House Bill 600

AN ACT TO CREATE "THE MISSISSIPPI FIRST HIGHER EDUCATION ACT"; TO PROVIDE THAT NO STATE SUPPORTED INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING OR PUBLIC COMMUNITY COLLEGE SHALL DISCRIMINATE AGAINST, OR GRANT PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT TO, ANY INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP ON THE BASIS OF RACE, SEX, COLOR, ETHNICITY, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN IN THE OPERATION OF RECRUITING, HIRING, PROMOTIONS OR ADMISSION IN ITS PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT, PUBLIC EDUCATION OR PUBLIC CONTRACTING PROCEDURES; TO PROHIBIT THE USE OF PUBLIC FUNDING TO INDIVIDUALS NOT LAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES IN THE FORM OF GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIP OR FINANCIAL AID AND TO DENY THEM ADMISSION TO ANY POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION IN THE STATE; TO PROVIDE THAT NONCITIZEN STUDENTS SHALL NOT BE CLASSIFIED AS IN-STATE RESIDENTS FOR TUITION PURPOSES; TO PROVIDE AN EXCEPTION FOR THOSE NONCITIZEN STUDENTS LEGALLY IN THIS STATE WITH EVIDENCE TO WARRANT CONSIDERATION OF IN-STATE CLASSIFICATION; TO REQUIRE THE BOARDS TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A PROCESS BY WHICH LAWFUL PRESENCE IN THE UNITED STATES IS VERIFIED; TO REQUIRE THE BOARDS TO ESTABLISH THE GENERAL MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR INITIAL ELIGIBILITY OF STUDENTS FOR ADMISSION TO THE PUBLIC POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE STATE; TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN A POLICY PERMITTING THE ADMISSION OF NOT MORE THAN 10% OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF NEWLY ENROLLED STUDENTS, REGARDLESS OF CLASSIFICATION BY YEAR ON EXCEPTIONS; TO PROVIDE THAT EACH PUBLIC POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION SHALL REQUIRE STUDENTS ADMITTED UNDER AN EXCEPTION TO ADOPT AN INDIVIDUAL PLAN FOR SUCCESS BEFORE ENROLLMENT; TO PERMIT THE BOARDS TO ADOPT MORE RIGOROUS RULES AND REGULATIONS ESTABLISHING STANDARDS FOR THE ADMISSION; TO EXCLUDE THE APPLICABILITY OF THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT TO A PUBLIC POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION'S DISCRETION TO AWARD ATHLETIC IN-STATE SCHOLARSHIPS TO ANY PROSPECTIVE STUDENT REGARDLESS OF RESIDENCE OR CITIZENSHIP; TO REQUIRE STUDENTS ADMITTED TO PUBLIC POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS TO ATTEST TO THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS AND CORRECTNESS OF INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THE APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO DEMONSTRATE THE STUDENT'S RESIDENCY STATUS; TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR THE FALSIFICATION OF INFORMATION; TO PROVIDE THAT PUBLIC POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS SHALL LOSE PUBLIC FUNDING FOR VIOLATING THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT BY PROVIDING STATE ASSISTANCE TO NONCITIZEN STUDENTS; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 37-103-25, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO AMEND SECTION 25-9-149, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT NO PERSON SHALL BE APPOINTED OR PROMOTED TO, OR DEMOTED OR DISMISSED FROM, ANY POSITION IN STATE SERVICE, OR IN ANY WAY FAVORED OR DISCRIMINATED AGAINST WITH RESPECT TO EMPLOYMENT IN STATE SERVICE BECAUSE OF THE PERSON'S POLITICAL OPINIONS, RELIGION, RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OR AFFILIATIONS, AGE, SEX, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, NATIONAL ORIGIN OR RACE; TO PROHIBIT AN EMPLOYEE IN STATE SERVICE FROM HOLDING ANY REMUNERATIVE ELECTIVE PUBLIC OFFICE THAT CREATES AN ACTUAL, DIRECT AND SUBSTANTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST WITH THE EMPLOYEE'S EMPLOYMENT; TO PRESCRIBE THE PROCEDURE TO BE UNDERTAKEN TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "The Mississippi First Higher Education Act."

SECTION 2. (1) (a) No state supported institution of higher learning or public community college shall discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, religion or national origin in the operation of recruiting, hiring, promotions or admission in its public employment, public education or public contracting procedures.

(b) No quota systems shall be used officially or unofficially as it pertains to race, sex, color, ethnicity, religion or national origin in granting admission into any undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate or professional school of study at any community or junior college, college, university, vocational and technical facility, or any extension thereof that receives state funding. The provisions of this paragraph shall also apply to faculty and staff hiring at such institutions.

(2) The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, religion or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.

(3) For the purposes of this section "state" includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the state itself, state agencies, any municipality, county, any public college, university, or community college, school district, or other political subdivision or governmental instrumentality of or within the State of Mississippi not included in subsection (1).

(4) This section does not prohibit action that must be taken to establish or maintain eligibility for any federal program, if ineligibility would result in a loss of federal funds to the state.

(5) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as prohibiting bona fide qualifications based on sex that are reasonably necessary to the normal operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.

(6) The remedies available for violations of this section shall be the same, regardless of the injured party's race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin, as are otherwise available for violations of Mississippi anti-discrimination law.

(7) This section shall be self-executing. If any part or parts of this section are found to be in conflict with the United States Constitution or federal law, this section shall be implemented to the maximum extent that the United States Constitution and federal law permit. Any provision held invalid shall be severable from the remaining portions of this section.

(8) This section does not invalidate any court order or consent decree that is in force as of the effective date of this section.

SECTION 3. (1) An individual who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within the state for:

(a) Any publicly funded postsecondary education benefit, including, but not limited to, scholarships or financial aid; or

(b) Admission and enrollment at any public postsecondary institution.

(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to a noncitizen student enrolled in a degree program at a public postsecondary educational institution within the State of Mississippi's institutions of higher learning or public community college systems during the 2016-2017 school year or any prior year who received a resident tuition benefit at that institution pursuant to Section 37-103-25.

(3) Noncitizen students shall not be classified as in-state for tuition purposes unless the student is legally in this state and there is evidence to warrant consideration of in-state classification as determined by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning or the Mississippi Community College Board. Lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylees, or other eligible noncitizens as defined by federal Title IV regulations may be extended the same consideration as citizens of the United States in determining whether they qualify for in-state classification. International students who reside in the United States under nonimmigrant status conditioned at least in part upon intent not to abandon a foreign domicile shall not be eligible for in-state classification.

(4) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the Mississippi Community College Board shall develop and implement a process by which lawful presence in the United States is verified. In doing so, institution personnel shall not attempt to independently verify the immigration status of any alien, but shall verify any alien's immigration status with the federal government pursuant to 8 USCS Section 1373(c).

SECTION 4. (1) No quota systems shall be used officially or unofficially as it pertains to race, sex, color, ethnicity, religion or national origin in granting admission into any undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate or professional school of study at any community or junior college, college, university, vocational and technical facility, or any extension thereof that receives state funding. The provisions of this paragraph shall also apply to faculty and staff hiring at such institutions. In making determinations of general admissions practices to the state institutions of higher learning and public community and junior colleges, each state institution of higher learning, in consultation with the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, and each board of trustees of a community or junior college, in consultation with the Mississippi Community College Board, shall establish the general requirements for initial eligibility of students for admission to the public postsecondary educational institutions in the state, which shall at a minimum consist of the following:

(a) Completion of the College Preparatory Curriculum (CPC) with a minimum of a 3.20 high school grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale on the application on the CPC;

(b) Completion of the CPC with:

(i) A minimum of a 2.50 high school GPA on a 4.0 scale on the CPC or a class rank in the top fifty percent (50%); and

(ii) A composite score of sixteen (16) or higher on the ACT or a combine score of seven hundred seventy (770) or higher on the SAT;

(i) A minimum of a 2.00 high school GPA on a 4.0 scale on the CPC; and

(ii) A composite score of eighteen (18) or higher on the ACT a combine score of eight hundred sixty (860) or higher on the SAT; and

(d) National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I standards for student athletes who are "full or part time‐qualifiers" or "academic redshirts" are accepted as equivalent to the admission standards established by the board.

(2) (a) Each public postsecondary educational institution shall establish and maintain a policy permitting the admission of not more than ten percent (10%) of the total number of newly enrolled students, regardless to classification as freshmen, sophomore, junior or senior, or post-graduate and professional school of study, to the public postsecondary educational institution as exceptions to the minimum admissions standards prescribed by this section. These exceptions shall only be applied to students who are bona fide residents of Mississippi in accordance with Chapter 103, Title 37, Mississippi Code of 1972, which determine the residency status of applicants for tuition purposes. The policy shall also provide that, in determining which students to admit as exceptions to the minimum admissions standards prescribed by this section, the public postsecondary educational institution shall give preference to persons who are in military service. The boards shall adopt rules and regulations prescribing criteria and guidelines to be applied on a system-wide basis to policies established by the public postsecondary educational institutions for the purpose of permitting all class admissions to the institutions as exceptions to the minimum admissions standards prescribed by this section. On or before January 31 of each year, the boards shall submit a report to the Legislature containing the number and percentage of all class admissions permitted as exceptions to the standards during the preceding academic year. The information contained in the annual report shall be disaggregated by institution.

(b) In applying the established admission guidelines for new students, each public postsecondary institution shall give first preference of admission to all Mississippi residents seeking admission to any such institution who meet or exceed the established admissions qualifications guidelines before any nonresident of the state may be considered for admission. Once all available spaces for admissions for qualifying residents of Mississippi choosing to attend the institution has been filled, qualifying nonresidents may be admitted.

(c) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a public postsecondary institution's practices and policies to award and recruit nonresident students for athletic scholarships.

(3) (a) For those students admitted under an exception to the minimum admissions standards prescribed by subsection (2) of this section, each public postsecondary educational institution

shall require each such student to adopt an individual plan for success before the student's enrollment.

(b) Any individual plan for success adopted pursuant to this subsection shall be reviewed by the student and the student's collegiate academic advisor at least once during the twelve-month period immediately succeeding the initial adoption of the plan. Upon completion of the review, the plan may be revised as mutually agreed to by the student and the advisor. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as prohibiting any plan from being reviewed at any other time while the student is attending a public postsecondary educational institution, or from being reviewed more than once during any academic year.

(4) The boards may authorize the president of each public postsecondary educational institution to adopt additional rules and policies relating to admissions of students so long as such rules and policies are not in conflict with the provisions of this section.

(5) The boards may adopt rules and regulations establishing standards for the admission of students to public postsecondary educational institutions that differ from the standards set forth in subsection (1), provided that those adopted rules and regulations are more rigorous than those set forth in subsection (1), and shall not be effective prior to the first day of the fourth academic year following the year in which the rules and regulations are adopted.

(6) Except as otherwise provided, the provisions of Sections 2 and 3 of this act shall not be applicable to a public postsecondary educational institution's discretion to award athletic scholarships to any prospective student as deemed appropriate, without regard to Mississippi residency or United States citizenship, provided that the student's legal status for presence in the United States is verified under 8 USCS Section 1373(c).

SECTION 5. (1) Any student admitted to a public postsecondary educational institution must attest to the accuracy, completeness and correctness of information provided to demonstrate the student's residency status for purposes of determining the student's eligibility for publicly funded grants or scholarships, in-state tuition, and other funding benefits or waivers.

(2) Falsification of such information shall result in the denial of any pending grant and revocation of any award currently held to the extent that no further payments shall be made. Any student knowingly making false statements in order to receive a publicly funded educational benefit shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable, upon conviction thereof, by a fine of up to Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), a prison sentence of up to one (1) year in the county jail, or both, and shall be required to return all public funds wrongfully obtained.

SECTION 6. In order for a public postsecondary educational institution to remain eligible for public funding, the public postsecondary educational institution shall comply with the provisions of Sections 1 through 5 of this act. Any deviation of a public postsecondary educational institution to comply with the provisions of Sections 1 through 5 of this act or any rules or regulations promulgated by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning or the Mississippi Community College Board relating to the governance of the public postsecondary educational institutions under their respective authority, shall result in a loss of public funding until the institution is in full compliance with the standards prescribed under the provisions of Sections 1 through 5 of this act.

SECTION 7. Section 37-103-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

37-103-25. (1) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the boards of trustees of the community colleges and junior colleges are authorized to prescribe the amount of tuition and fees to be paid by students attending the several state-supported institutions of higher learning and community colleges and junior colleges of the State of Mississippi.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection and subsections (3) and (4) of this section, the total tuition to be paid by residents of other states shall not be less than the average cost per student from appropriated funds. However, the tuition to be paid by a resident of another state shall be equal to the tuition amount established under subsection (1) of this section if:

(a) The nonresident student is either a veteran, as defined by Title 38 of the United States Code, or a person entitled to education benefits under Title 38 of the United States Code. Nonresident students enrolled in a professional school or college at a state institution of higher learning are excluded from this paragraph (2)(a) except for those nonresident students who must be charged tuition equal to the amount established under subsection (1) due to the provisions of Section 702 of the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014. This paragraph (a) shall be administered and interpreted in the manner necessary to obtain or retain approval of courses of education by the Secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs;

(b) The nonresident student is an evacuee of an area affected by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita. This waiver shall be applicable to the 2005-2006 school year only.

(3) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning may, in its discretion, consider and grant requests to approve institution specific policies permitting the waiver of out-of-state tuition when such an official request is made by the president or chancellor of the institution and when such request is determined by the board to be fiscally responsible and in accordance with the educational mission of the requesting institution.

(4) The board of trustees of any community college or junior college may develop and implement a policy for waiving out-of-state tuition for the college if the policy is determined by the board to be in accordance with the educational mission of the college and if a local industry or business or a state agency agrees to reimburse the college for the entire amount of the out-of-state tuition that will be waived under the policy. State funds shall be allocated and spent only on students who reside within the State of Mississippi. However, associate degree nursing students who reside outside the State of Mississippi may be counted for pay purposes.

SECTION 8. Section 25-9-149, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-9-149. (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that no person seeking employment in state service, as defined in Section 25-9-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, or employed in state service, as defined in Section 25-9-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age or handicap.

(2) (a) No person shall be appointed or promoted to, or demoted or dismissed from, any position in state service, or in any way favored or discriminated against with respect to employment in state service because of the person's political opinions, religion, religious beliefs or affiliations, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or race. Additionally, except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, there shall be no preferential treatment or discrimination in recruiting, hiring, or promotion based on race, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion or religious beliefs. Nothing in this section shall require the appointment or prevent the dismissal of any person who advocates the overthrow of the government by unconstitutional and violent means.

(b) No person shall use, or promise to use directly or indirectly, any official authority or influence, whether possessed or anticipated, to secure or attempt to secure for any person an appointment or advantage in appointment to a position in state service, or an increase in pay or other advantage in employment in any such position, for the purpose of influencing the vote or political action of any person, or for any consideration.

(c) No employee in state service shall hold any remunerative elective public office, or have other employment, either of which creates an actual, direct and substantial conflict of interest with the employee's employment, which conflict cannot be alleviated by the employee abstaining from actions directly affecting his or her state employment. Determination of a conflict shall be made by the Mississippi Ethics Commission after the parties are afforded rights to a hearing under Sections 25-4-19 and 25-4-21. The burden of proof in establishing such a conflict shall be upon the party alleging it. No action affecting the employee shall be taken by the appointing authority because of the public office or other employment until after a full hearing before and approval of the action by the commission. If an actual, direct and substantial conflict of interest, which cannot be alleviated by abstention by the employee, is found by the commission, the commission must approve any action proposed by the appointing authority, and the employee shall be given a reasonable amount of time to leave the employee's public office or other employment or otherwise end the conflict before the appointing authority initiates that action.

(3) Notwithstanding the prohibition on preferential treatment or discrimination in subsection (2) of this section:

(a) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as prohibiting bona fide qualifications based on sex which are reasonably necessary to the normal operation of public employment, public education or public contracting; and

(b) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as invalidating any court order or consent decree which is in force as of the effective date of this act.

SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2017.