H-3656              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 2462

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

By Representatives Van Luven, Jacobsen, Miller, Fraser, Prentice, H. Sommers, Beck, Todd, McLean, Moyer, Rector, Wineberry, Dellwo and Ferguson

Read first time 1/12/90 and referred to Committee on Higher Education.

AN ACT Relating to financial aid; adding a new chapter to Title 28B RCW; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

          (1) "Thomas Foley Pacific Rim language scholarship" means a scholarship awarded, for a period not to exceed one year, to a student proficient in speaking one of the following languages:  Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese.

          (2) "Institution of higher education" or "institution" means a college or university in the state of Washington that is accredited by an accrediting association recognized as such by rule of the higher education coordinating board.

          (3) "Board" means the higher education coordinating board.

          (4) "Student" means a high school senior who is a proficient speaker of a Pacific Rim language, and who intends to enroll in an institution of higher education within one year of high school graduation.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     The Thomas Foley Pacific Rim language scholarship program is created.  The program shall be administered by the higher education coordinating board.  In administering the program, the board shall have the following powers and duties:

          (1) Select students to receive the scholarships with the assistance of a screening committee composed of leaders in government, business, and education;

          (2) Adopt necessary rules and guidelines;

          (3) Publicize the program; and

          (4) Solicit and accept grants and donations from public and private sources for the program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     The board shall select up to four students yearly from each congressional district to receive a Thomas Foley Scholarship from funds appropriated for this purpose.  Of the four students selected, one student shall be a proficient speaker of Spanish, one of Russian, one of Japanese, and one of Chinese.  Using measures as objective as possible, the board shall select students who have shown the most improvement in their ability to speak the language during their high school careers.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     Scholarships shall not exceed one thousand dollars per student.  The scholarship shall not be disbursed to the student until the student is enrolled at an institution of higher education.  The board may also use private donations or any other funds given to the board for this program to make additional scholarship awards.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     By October 30, 1995, the board shall evaluate the effectiveness of the program, and shall report its findings and recommendations to the governor and the house of representatives and senate committees on higher education.  The report shall include a recommendation on whether to expand the number of languages included, and whether to expand the program to students in each legislative district.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.     This act shall expire June 30, 1996, and no scholarships shall be granted after June 30, 1996.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7.     Sections 1 through 5 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 28B RCW.