AN ACT relating to professional engineering and land surveying scholarships.

UNOFFICIAL COPY 26 RS HB 49/GA
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AN ACT relating to professional engineering and land surveying scholarships. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 322 IS CREATED TO 3
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
It is the intent of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky to: 5
(1) Ensure the availability of professional engineers and professional land surveyors 6
in the Commonwealth; and 7
(2) Address professional engineer and professional land surveyor wo rkforce 8
development and needs throughout the Commonwealth by providing eligible 9
Kentucky residents with scholarships to: 10
(a) Attend a qualifying program at a postsecondary institution in the 11
Commonwealth; and 12
(b) Become licensed as a professional engineer or professional land surveyor in 13
the Commonwealth. 14
SECTION 2. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPT ER 322 IS CREATED TO 15
READ AS FOLLOWS: 16
(1) There is hereby established in the State Treasury a trust and agency account to be 17
known as the Kentucky professional engineer and professional land surveyor 18
incentive scholarship fund. The fund shall consist of mo neys received as 19
described in Section 4 of this Act. 20
(2) The fund shall be administered by the board. 21
(3) Amounts deposited in the fund shall be used for the scholarships established in 22
Section 3 of this Act. 23
(4) Notwithstanding KRS 45.229, fund amounts no t expended at the close of the 24
fiscal year shall not lapse but shall be carried forward into the next fiscal year. 25
SECTION 3. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 322 IS CREATED TO 26
READ AS FOLLOWS: 27
UNOFFICIAL COPY 26 RS HB 49/GA
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(1) The board shall make engin eering and land surveying scholarships available to 1
Kentucky residents through the Kentucky professional engineer and professional 2
land surveyor incentive scholarship fund established in Section 2 of this Act in 3
accordance with Sections 1 to 4 of this Act and administrative regulations 4
promulgated pursuant to KRS Chapter 13A. 5
(2) The board shall administer the Kentucky professional engineer and professional 6
land surveyor incentive scholarship fund and may recover reasonable costs for 7
administering the fund. The board shall receive and evaluate all applications for 8
the scholarship made by bona fide Kentucky residents who desire to become 9
professional engineers or professional land surveyors. The board shall evaluate 10
each application to determine if the applic ant complies with criteria for the 11
scholarships as set forth in this section and in the administrative regulations of 12
the board. 13
(3) From among the qualified applications, the board shall designate the persons to 14
receive assistance and the amount of the sc holarship award. The board's 15
scholarship decisions shall be final. Disbursement of funds shall occur pursuant 16
to a written contract between the board and the applicant. 17
(4) The board shall annually determine the amount and number of individual 18
professional engineering and professional land surveying scholarship awards to 19
be granted by using its best judgment and shall seek to maintain the scholarship 20
funds for future use. 21
(5) Each recipient of a scholarship granted under Sections 1 to 4 of this Act shall 22
agree in the written contract to: 23
(a) Obtain a professional engineer or professional land surveyor license in 24
Kentucky within six (6) years of graduation; and 25
(b) Engage in the licensed practice of professional engineering or professional 26
land surveying in Kentucky for at least one (1) year for each academic year 27
UNOFFICIAL COPY 26 RS HB 49/GA
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the recipient received the scholarship funds. 1
SECTION 4. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 322 IS CREATED TO 2
READ AS FOLLOWS: 3
(1) Funding for the Kentucky professional engineer and professional land surveyor 4
incentive scholarship fund: 5
(a) Shall be supplied partly by funds received from penalties and fines assessed 6
by the board pursuant to KRS 322.180; 7
(b) Shall be provided by an assessment of five dollars ($5) from each 8
professional engineer and professional land surveyor licensure renewal 9
application fee payable to the board, the proceeds of which shall be 10
annually allocated to the Kentucky professional engineer and professional 11
land surveyor incentive scholarship fund; and 12
(c) May be provided by the board from its budgeted funds. 13
(2) (a) The board may cancel any contract entered into under Section 3 of this Act 14
if an applicant or recipient fails to meet the requirements of Section 3 of 15
this Act or the administrative regulations of the board. 16
(b) Failure to complete the terms of the contract shall subject the applicant to 17
legal action for the recovery of all assistance provided, along with the 18
attorney's fees and interest at an annual compound rate of eight percent 19
(8%) from the date of disbursement from the Kentucky professional 20
engineer and professional land surveyor incentive scholarship fund. 21
(3) By August 1 of each year, the board shall submit a report to the Legislative 22
Research Commission for referral to the Interi m Joint Committee on Licensing, 23
Occupations, and Administrative Regulations relating to the Kentucky 24
professional engineer and professional land surveyor incentive scholarship fund. 25
The report shall contain at a minimum the following information for the previous 26
fiscal year: 27
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(a) The number of scholarships provided; 1
(b) The program of study in which the recipients are enrolled; 2
(c) The total number of applications; 3
(d) The total number of scholarships recipients; and 4
(e) The amount awarded to recipients. 5