Title 17. Education

Chapter 24. Board of Regents

Part I. General Provisions

17:3138.9       Louisiana Cybersecurity Talent Initiative Fund; Cybersecurity Education Management Council

A. (1) The Louisiana Cybersecurity Talent Initiative Fund, referred to in this Section as the “fund”, is hereby created within the state treasury as a special fund for the purpose of funding degree and certificate programs in cybersecurity fields offered by public postsecondary education institutions in order to meet the state’s workforce needs. 

(2) Any money donated to the fund or appropriated to the fund by the legislature shall be deposited in the fund. Monies in the fund shall be invested in the same manner as monies in the general fund. Interest earned on investment of monies in the fund shall be credited to the fund. Unexpended and unencumbered monies in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall remain in the fund. 

(3) Monies in the fund shall be appropriated to the Board of Regents to be distributed to public postsecondary education institutions. 

(4) The funds distributed pursuant to this Section shall be used by the institutions for expansion of cybersecurity programs. Any funds distributed to an institution that remain unexpended or unobligated at the end of the fiscal year shall be available for use in the subsequent fiscal year by an institution for such purpose. 

(5) Funding shall be distributed by the Board of Regents to the public postsecondary education management boards only upon the certification by such a board, on behalf of the receiving institution, that a match of no less than twenty-five percent of the amount of funding to be distributed has been guaranteed by a private entity. The certification shall detail the type of private match to be provided, which may include but is not limited to cash; in-kind donations of technology, personnel, construction materials, facility modification, or corporeal property; internships; scholarships; sponsorship of staff or faculty; or faculty endowment. 

(6) The fund is in addition to, and separate from, monies appropriated or allocated to any public postsecondary education management board. Allocations from the fund shall not be included in the Board of Regents’ funding formula calculation, nor shall they supplant any state general fund allocations to institutions. The availability of the fund shall not in any way substitute, limit, or otherwise affect the allocation of any funds otherwise available to those institutions under state or federal laws. 

B. (1) The Cybersecurity Education Management Council, referred to in this Section as the “council”, is hereby created under the auspices of the Board of Regents for the purpose of advising and making recommendations to the board with respect to distributions from the fund. 

(2) The council annually shall review the list of degree and certificate programs upon which the distribution is based and the final distribution amounts. 

(3)(a) The council membership shall be as follows, and any member selecting a designee shall select the designee from his respective system, agency, office, or association, as applicable: 

(i) Two members appointed by the governor. 

(ii) The commissioner of higher education or his designee. 

(iii) A representative of the state Department of Education with expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education appointed by the state superintendent of education. 

(iv) The president of the Louisiana Chemical Association or his designee. 

(v) The president of the Louisiana State University System or his designee. 

(vi) The president of the Southern University System or his designee. 

(vii) The president of the University of Louisiana System or his designee. 

(viii) The president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System or his designee. 

(ix) The secretary of the Louisiana Workforce Commission or his designee.

(x) The secretary of the Louisiana Department of Economic Development or his designee. 

(b) A vacancy in the membership of the council shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. 

(c) The members of the council shall elect a chairman, vice chairman, and other officers as they consider necessary. 

(d) The members of the council shall serve without compensation, but they shall be reimbursed for actual expenses, including travel expenses, to the extent that funds are made available for such purpose. 

(e) The council shall meet at least quarterly according to a schedule it establishes. Special meetings shall be held on call of the chairman or of a quorum of the members of the council. For all regular or special meetings, the chairman or other members calling the meeting shall give at least seven days notice to the members of the council of the time and place where the meeting will be held. A majority of the members of the council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any and all business. 

(f) The council shall be domiciled in Baton Rouge but may hold public meetings elsewhere in the state. 

C. The Board of Regents annually shall submit a report to the Senate Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on Finance, the House Committee on Education, and the House Committee on Appropriations. The report shall include the distribution method, the list of degree and certificate programs upon which the distribution is based, the final distribution amounts, the number of jobs created as a result of the distribution, and the method and data used to determine the reported number of jobs created. Each public postsecondary education management board shall report to the Board of Regents the information necessary for the Board of Regents to satisfy the requirements of this Subsection. 

Added by Acts 2020, No. 57, § 1.