GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 2253

Short Title:  Rural Development Assistance Program.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representatives Hardaway; Buchanan, Colton, Cooper, N. Crawford, Diamont, Edwards, Fletcher, Gibson, Greenwood, Jack Hunt, Judy Hunt, H. Hunter, R. Hunter, James, Kerr, Lilley, Lineberry, Locks, Mercer, Nesbitt, Nye, Perdue, Ramsey, Redwine, Rogers, Stamey, Warner, and Wicker.
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Referred to:  Education.
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June 1, 1990

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE CREATION WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA SYSTEM OF A NEW GRADUATE LEVEL PROGRAM IN RURAL ECONOMIC PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT, TO ESTABLISH A SCHOLARSHIP/LOAN ARRANGEMENT FOR STUDENTS IN THE PROGRAM, AND TO INITIATE PLANNING OF A MATCHING GRANT FUND FOR DEVELOPMENT PERSONNEL POSITIONS IN ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED COUNTIES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  The General Assembly finds that local capacity to plan and manage development efforts in rural areas has traditionally been impaired due to the lack of fiscal resources to attract and maintain the full-time, professional expertise required.  Budget limitations and the resulting dearth of positions for planning and development specialists in rural areas have created the false impression that there is no demand for specially trained professionals to address these important rural needs.  Consequently, few universities offer a curriculum tailored to the development needs of rural communities.  This persistent shortage of trained planning and development personnel tends to exacerbate the already serious disadvantages rural areas face in trying to compete with the faster growing, more prosperous urban areas.  The large number of relatively small units of government in rural areas with their attendant budget and staff limitations have resulted in a fragmentation of development efforts.  Where expertise, technical support, and adequate compensation are in short supply, the creation of a county-level planning and development position complete with an appropriately trained specialist can provide the focus, initiative, and direction necessary to help overcome programming deficiencies and problems of organization and coordination.  By strengthening and broadening local and regional institutional capacity, rural areas will be in a better position to solve their problems and capture development opportunities.
Sec. 2. (a) The Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina shall establish at one of its constituent institutions a two-year graduate degree program in rural economic planning and development.  The program shall provide for the enrollment of at least 10 students beginning in the 1991-92 academic year.  The program shall include a broad range of courses in relevant fields of study such as agriculture, rural sociology, economics, public administration, and regional development.  The program shall also require one summer internship in the field, as determined by the Board of Governors.
(b)	The Board of Governors shall appoint a special ad hoc committee to advise the Board in establishing the rural economic planning and development program.  The membership of the committee shall represent University of North Carolina System faculty and administrators, local governments, and experts in rural economic development.  The committee shall, upon consultation with the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, Inc., recommend (i) a method for selecting the constituent institution to offer the program, (ii) requirements for the economic planning and development degree, and (iii) curriculum tracks to be followed in the program.
Sec. 3.  Chapter 116 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
“ARTICLE 23A
"Economic Development Graduate Scholarship Loan Program
"§ 116-209.50. North Carolina Economic Development Graduate Scholarship Loan Commission established.
There is established the North Carolina Economic Development Graduate Scholarship Loan Commission.  This Commission shall exercise its powers and functions independently of the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina and the Department of Economic and Community Development. The North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, Inc., shall provide staff and office space to the Commission.  Staff to the Commission are not State employees.
"§ 116-209.51. Membership.
(a)	The Commission shall consist of 11 nonlegislative members as follows:
(1)	The Secretary of the Department of Economic and Community Development, or his designee.
(2)	The President of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, Inc., or his designee.
(3)	Three persons appointed by the Governor.
(4)	Three persons appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, as provided in G.S. 120-121.
(5)	Three persons appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as provided in G.S. 120-121.
(b)	Each of the appointing entities shall seek to achieve a balanced membership representing, to the maximum extent possible, the State as a whole.  The Commission members shall be chosen from among individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to higher education and/or economic planning and development.
(c)	Commission members shall be appointed for four-year terms, with the first appointments to expire July 1, 1994.
(d)	In the event a vacancy occurs for any reason, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the entity that made the appointment, except that vacancies in appointments by the General Assembly shall be filled as provided in G.S. 120-122.  The new appointee shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.
(e)	The Commission shall elect a chair from among its members for a term of one year.
(f)	Members of the Commission shall receive per diem and necessary travel and subsistence expenses in accordance with Chapter 138 of the General Statutes.
(g)	The Commission shall meet regularly at times and places the chair deems necessary.
"§ 116-209.52. Economic Development Graduate Scholarship Loan Program established; administration.
(a)	An Economic Development Graduate Scholarship Loan Program shall be administered by the North Carolina Economic Development Graduate Scholarship Loan Commission.  The Scholarship Loan Program shall be used to provide a two-year scholarship loan of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per year to students interested in enrolling in the graduate degree program in rural economic planning and development that will be established at a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina beginning in the 1991-92 academic year.  Ten two-year scholarship loans shall be awarded each academic year.
(b)	The Commission shall adopt stringent standards to ensure that only students with strong academic ability, leadership skills, and a commitment to rural economic development receive scholarship loans.  Standards adopted by the Commission shall include provisions for ensuring that the qualifications of applicants who are or would be nontraditional students are considered fairly in providing them with opportunities to compete for the scholarship loans.  In selecting individuals to receive a scholarship loan, the Authority shall identify and encourage minority students and students who might not otherwise consider a career in rural economic planning and development.
"§ 116-209.53.  Terms of scholarship loans; receipt and disbursement of funds.
(a)	All scholarship loans shall be evidenced by notes made payable to the State Education Assistance Authority that bear interest at the rate of ten percent (10%) per year beginning 90 days after completion of the program, or 90 days after termination of the scholarship loan, whichever is earlier.  The scholarship loan may be terminated by the recipient's withdrawal from school or by the recipient's failure to meet the standards set by the Commission.
(b)	The Commission shall forgive the loan if, within four years after receiving the graduate degree, the recipient completes two years of economic planning and development service to a distressed rural area, as determined by the Commission.  If the recipient repays the scholarship loan by cash payments, all indebtedness shall be repaid within 10 years.
(c)	All funds appropriated to or otherwise received by the Economic Development Graduate Scholarship Loan Program, all funds received as repayment of scholarship loans, and all interest earned on these funds, shall be placed in a revolving fund.  This revolving fund may be used only for scholarship loans as provided in this section."
Sec. 4.  G.S. 120-123 is amended by adding at the end a new subdivision to read:
"(58)	The North Carolina Economic Development Graduate Scholarship Loan Commission created in G.S. 116-209.50."
Sec. 5.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, Inc., the sum of $15,000 for the 1990-91 fiscal year to be used to provide office space and staff and for other expenses related to the North Carolina Economic Development Graduate Scholarship Loan Commission created in G.S. 116-209.50.
Sec. 6.  (a) There is appropriated from the General Fund to  the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, Inc., the sum of $32,000 for the 1990-91 fiscal year as a planning grant to be used to investigate the development of (i) a program to provide rural economic development internships and (ii) a matching grant program to enable distressed counties to fund development personnel positions.  The programs shall be developed as State funded programs in accordance with the specifications provided in this section.
(b) The internship program would support three summer internship positions to assist program development efforts targeted to those rural counties or communities in the State that are experiencing the most severe economic development problems.  Under the program, the interns would be graduate students in the rural economic planning and development program developed pursuant to Section 2 of this act.  One of the intern positions would be located at the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center and two would be assigned to field sites.
(c)	The matching grant program would make grants to distressed counties to help support county economic planning and development positions; specialists in these positions would coordinate county-wide planning efforts and help overcome program deficiencies in the county.  The matching grant program would provide 10 grants each year; each grant would support one position in a county for two years.  To receive a grant, a county must agree to sustain the position after the end of the two-year period of the grant.
Only those counties whose per capita income is below the state median would be eligible for a matching grant.  Counties that apply for a grant would be selected on the basis of degree of economic distress.  The program administrator would establish the percentage of the grant that must be matched by each county based on the county's ability to pay for an economic planning and development position.  Counties would be required to use grant funds only to support an economic planning and development position for a professional with a graduate degree from the rural economic planning and development program developed pursuant to Section 2 of this act.
Sec. 7.  Section 3 of this act shall become effective January 1, 1991.  The remainder of this act shall become effective July 1, 1990.