This bill updates the rules for the Harry S Truman Scholarship Board to reduce political influence and ensure diverse representation.
Truman Scholarship Clean House Act This bill makes changes to the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, which awards scholarships to students who plan to attend graduate school in pursuit of a career in public service. Specifically, the bill dissolves the current Board of Trustees (which oversees the foundation) and terminates all members of the board effective 90 days after the bill's enactment. New board members must be appointed as outlined by the bill. Additionally, the bill (1) prohibits any board member (other than the Secretary of Education or the Secretary's designee) from serving more than two six-year terms, and (2) establishes a quorum as seven board members. The board must appoint a new executive secretary of the foundation, who must (1) be appointed by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the board, and (2) serve a four-year term (but may be reappointed). The bill establishes certain requirements for regional review panels, including that each panel must consist of at least five members appointed annually by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the board and no more than half of the panel may be affiliated with the same political party. The bill establishes additional scholarship conditions, including by (1) stopping payments to scholarship recipients who commit certain actions (e. g., served as a leader in a student organization suspended for misconduct), and (2) requiring recipients who have their scholarship payments stopped or who are not employed in public service for a certain time period to repay their scholarship with 6% interest.
