I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4653 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prevent conflicts of interest on accreditation boards. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 11, 2019 Mrs. LEE of Nevada (for herself and Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prevent conflicts of interest on accreditation boards. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Under- 4 graduates with Board Limitations from Influence and 5 Conflicts Act’’ or the ‘‘PUBLIC Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. SEPARATE AND INDEPENDENT DEFINED. 7 Section 496 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 8 U.S.C. 1099b) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Oct 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4653.IH H4653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4653 IH (1) in subsection (a)(3)(A), by inserting before 1 the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, and any 2 institution described in subsection (b)’’; and 3 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting: 4 ‘‘(b) SEPARATE AND INDEPENDENT DEFINED.—For 5 the purpose of subsection (a)(3), the term ‘separate and 6 independent’ means that— 7 ‘‘(1) the members of the postsecondary edu- 8 cation governing body and any other decision-mak- 9 ing body of the accrediting agency or association are 10 not— 11 ‘‘(A) elected or selected by the board or 12 chief executive officer of any related, associated, 13 or affiliated trade association or membership 14 organization; or 15 ‘‘(B) individuals (such as executives and 16 owners of an institution) who exercise substan- 17 tial control over an institution— 18 ‘‘(i) required to provide the Secretary 19 with satisfactory evidence of its financial 20 responsibility in accordance with para- 21 graph (3)(A) of section 498(c) because the 22 institution fails to meet criteria under 23 paragraphs (1) and (2) of such section; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Oct 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4653.IH H4653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4653 IH ‘‘(ii) that the Secretary has placed on 1 a reimbursement system of payment pursu- 2 ant to section 487(c)(1)(B); 3 ‘‘(iii) against which the Secretary has 4 initiated an emergency action in accord- 5 ance with section 487(c)(1)(G); 6 ‘‘(iv) against which the Secretary has 7 limited, suspended, or terminated the insti- 8 tution’s participation in any program 9 under this title in accordance with section 10 487(c)(1)(F); or 11 ‘‘(v) that has been placed on proba- 12 tion, show cause, or had its accreditation 13 withdrawn; 14 ‘‘(2) among the membership of the board of the 15 accrediting agency or association there shall be 1 16 public member for each 3 members of the board, 17 with a minimum of 1 such public member, and 18 guidelines are established for such members to avoid 19 conflicts of interest, including guidelines ensuring 20 that such each such public member— 21 ‘‘(A) is selected to serve on such board in 22 the same manner that other board members are 23 selected for such service; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Oct 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4653.IH H4653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4653 IH ‘‘(B) has not served on such board as a 1 nonpublic member in the preceding 10 years; 2 ‘‘(C) is not (or has not been in the pre- 3 ceding 5-year period) a full-time employee of, or 4 a member of the governing board, an owner, or 5 shareholder of, or consultant to, an institution 6 or program that— 7 ‘‘(i) is accredited or preaccredited by 8 the agency or association; or 9 ‘‘(ii) has applied for accreditation or 10 preaccreditation from such agency or asso- 11 ciation; 12 ‘‘(D) is not a member of any trade associa- 13 tion or membership organization related to, af- 14 filiated with, or associated with the agency or 15 association or an institution that is accredited 16 by such agency or association; and 17 ‘‘(E) is not a spouse, parent, child, or sib- 18 ling of an individual identified in subparagraph 19 (C) or (D); 20 ‘‘(3) dues to the accrediting agency or associa- 21 tion are paid separately from any dues paid to any 22 related, associated, or affiliated trade association or 23 membership organization; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Oct 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4653.IH H4653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4653 IH ‘‘(4) the budget of the accrediting agency or as- 1 sociation is developed and determined by the accred- 2 iting agency or association without review or resort 3 to consultation with any other entity or organiza- 4 tion.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Oct 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4653.IH H4653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS