Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB2013 Compare Versions

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1	1	H.B. No. 2013
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to tuition and laboratory fee exemptions at public
6	6	institutions of higher education for certain volunteer
7	7	firefighters enrolled in fire science courses.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 54.208, Education Code, is amended to
10	10	read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 54.208. FIREFIGHTERS [FIREMEN] ENROLLED IN FIRE
12	12	SCIENCE COURSES. (a) The governing board of an institution of
13	13	higher education [boards of the state institutions of collegiate
14	14	rank supported in whole or in part by public funds] shall exempt
15	15	from the payment of tuition and laboratory fees any student
16	16	enrolled in one or more courses offered as part of a fire science
17	17	curriculum who:
18	18	(1) [person who] is employed as a firefighter
19	19	[fireman] by a [any] political subdivision of this [the] state; or
20	20	(2) is currently, and has been for at least one year,
21	21	an active member of an organized volunteer fire department in this
22	22	state, as defined by the fire fighters' pension commissioner, who
23	23	holds:
24	24	(A) an Accredited Advanced level of
25	25	certification, or an equivalent successor certification, under the
26	26	State Firemen's and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas volunteer
27	27	certification program; or
28	28	(B) Phase V (Firefighter II) certification, or an
29	29	equivalent successor certification, under the Texas Commission on
30	30	Fire Protection's voluntary certification program under Section
31	31	419.071, Government Code [and who enrolls in a course or courses
32	32	offered as part of a fire science curriculum].
33	33	(b) An [The] exemption provided under this section does not
34	34	apply to deposits that [which] may be required in the nature of
35	35	security for the return or proper care of property loaned for the
36	36	use of students.
37	37	(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a student who for a
38	38	semester or term at an institution of higher education receives an
39	39	exemption under this section may continue to receive the exemption
40	40	for a subsequent semester or term at any institution only if the
41	41	student makes satisfactory academic progress toward a degree or
42	42	certificate at that institution as determined by the institution
43	43	for purposes of financial aid.
44	44	(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the exemption provided
45	45	under this section does not apply to any amount of additional
46	46	tuition the institution elects to charge a resident undergraduate
47	47	student under Section 54.014(a) or (f).
48	48	(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the exemption provided
49	49	under this section does not apply to any amount of tuition the
50	50	institution charges a graduate student in excess of the amount of
51	51	tuition charged to similarly situated graduate students because the
52	52	student has a number of semester credit hours of doctoral work in
53	53	excess of the applicable number provided by Section 61.059(l)(1) or
54	54	(2).
55	55	(f) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
56	56	adopt:
57	57	(1) rules governing the granting or denial of an
58	58	exemption under this section, including rules relating to the
59	59	determination of a student's eligibility for an exemption; and
60	60	(2) a uniform listing of degree programs covered by
61	61	the exemption under this section.
62	62	SECTION 2. A student who received an exemption under
63	63	Section 54.208, Education Code, before the 2009 fall semester may
64	64	continue to receive the exemption under the provisions of that
65	65	section as it existed immediately before the effective date of this
66	66	Act as long as the student remains enrolled in the same degree or
67	67	certificate program and is otherwise eligible to continue to
68	68	receive the exemption under that former law.
69	69	SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
70	70	54.208, Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and laboratory
71	71	fees charged for the 2009 fall semester. Tuition and laboratory
72	72	fees charged for an academic period before the 2009 fall semester
73	73	are covered by the law in effect immediately before the effective
74	74	date of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that
75	75	purpose.
76	76	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
77	77	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
78	78	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
79	79	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
80	80	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
81	81	______________________________ ______________________________
82	82	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
83	83	I certify that H.B. No. 2013 was passed by the House on May
84	84	11, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 125, Nays 20, 2 present, not
85	85	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
86	86	No. 2013 on May 29, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 138, Nays 0,
87	87	1 present, not voting.
88	88	______________________________
89	89	Chief Clerk of the House
90	90	I certify that H.B. No. 2013 was passed by the Senate, with
91	91	amendments, on May 25, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
92	92	0.
93	93	______________________________
94	94	Secretary of the Senate
95	95	APPROVED: __________________
96	96	Date
97	97	__________________
98	98	Governor