81R12335 KSD-F
By: Keffer, et al. H.B. No. 2013
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2013:
By: Castro C.S.H.B. No. 2013
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to tuition and laboratory fee exemptions at public
institutions of higher education for certain volunteer
firefighters enrolled in fire science courses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.208, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 54.208. FIREFIGHTERS [FIREMEN] ENROLLED IN FIRE
SCIENCE COURSES. (a) The governing board of an institution of
higher education [boards of the state institutions of collegiate
rank supported in whole or in part by public funds] shall exempt
from the payment of tuition and laboratory fees any student
enrolled in one or more courses offered as part of a fire science
curriculum who:
(1) [person who] is employed as a firefighter
[fireman] by a [any] political subdivision of this [the] state; or
(2) is an active member of an organized volunteer fire
department in this state, as defined by the fire fighters' pension
commissioner, who holds:
(A) an Accredited Advanced level of
certification, or an equivalent successor certification, under the
State Firemen's and Fire Marshal's Association of Texas volunteer
certification program; or
(B) Phase V (Firefighter II) certification, or an
equivalent successor certification, under the Texas Commission on
Fire Protection's voluntary certification program under Section
419.071, Government Code [and who enrolls in a course or courses
offered as part of a fire science curriculum].
(b) An [The] exemption provided under this section does not
apply to deposits that [which] may be required in the nature of
security for the return or proper care of property loaned for the
use of students.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
54.208, Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and laboratory
fees charged for the 2009 fall semester. Tuition and laboratory
fees charged for an academic period before the 2009 fall semester
are covered by the law in effect immediately before the effective
date of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.