Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB2347 Compare Versions

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1	1	H.B. No. 2347
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of
6	6	higher education for certain peace officers enrolled in criminal
7	7	justice or law enforcement course work and for certain educational
8	8	aides.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 54.208, Education Code, is amended to
11	11	read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 54.208. FIREFIGHTERS AND PEACE OFFICERS [FIREMEN]
13	13	ENROLLED IN CERTAIN [FIRE SCIENCE] COURSES. (a) The governing
14	14	board of an institution of higher education [boards of the state
15	15	institutions of collegiate rank supported in whole or in part by
16	16	public funds] shall exempt from the payment of tuition and
17	17	laboratory fees a student [any person] who is employed as a
18	18	firefighter [fireman] by a [any] political subdivision of this
19	19	[the] state and who enrolls in a course or courses offered as part
20	20	of a fire science curriculum.
21	21	(b) The governing board of an institution of higher
22	22	education shall exempt from the payment of tuition and laboratory
23	23	fees charged by the institution for a criminal justice or law
24	24	enforcement course or courses an undergraduate student who:
25	25	(1) is employed as a peace officer by this state or by
26	26	a political subdivision of this state;
27	27	(2) is enrolled in a criminal justice or law
28	28	enforcement-related degree program at the institution;
29	29	(3) is making satisfactory academic progress toward
30	30	the student's degree as determined by the institution; and
31	31	(4) applies for the exemption at least one week before
32	32	the last date of the institution's regular registration period for
33	33	the applicable semester or other term.
34	34	(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), a student may not
35	35	receive an exemption under that subsection for any course if the
36	36	student has previously attempted a number of semester credit hours
37	37	for courses taken at any institution of higher education while
38	38	classified as a resident student for tuition purposes in excess of
39	39	the maximum number of those hours specified by Section 61.0595(a)
40	40	as eligible for funding under the formulas established under
41	41	Section 61.059.
42	42	(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), the governing board of
43	43	an institution of higher education may not provide exemptions under
44	44	that subsection to students enrolled in a specific class in a number
45	45	that exceeds 20 percent of the maximum student enrollment
46	46	designated by the institution for that class.
47	47	(e) An [The] exemption provided under this section does not
48	48	apply to deposits that [which] may be required in the nature of
49	49	security for the return or proper care of property loaned for the
50	50	use of students.
51	51	(f) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
52	52	adopt:
53	53	(1) rules governing the granting or denial of an
54	54	exemption under this section, including rules relating to the
55	55	determination of a student's eligibility for an exemption; and
56	56	(2) a uniform listing of degree programs covered by
57	57	the exemption under this section.
58	58	(g) If the legislature does not specifically appropriate
59	59	funds to an institution of higher education in an amount sufficient
60	60	to pay the institution's costs in complying with this section for a
61	61	semester, the governing board of the institution of higher
62	62	education shall report to the Senate Finance Committee and the
63	63	House Appropriations Committee the cost to the institution of
64	64	complying with this section for that semester.
65	65	SECTION 2. Section 54.214(d), Education Code, is amended to
66	66	read as follows:
67	67	(d) The institution of higher education at which a person
68	68	seeking an exemption under this section is enrolled [coordinating
69	69	board] must certify the [a] person's eligibility to receive the
70	70	[an] exemption [under this section]. As soon as practicable after
71	71	receiving an application for certification, the institution
72	72	[coordinating board] shall make the determination of eligibility
73	73	and give notice of its determination to the applicant[, the
74	74	institution of higher education at which the applicant is
75	75	enrolled,] and to the school district employing the applicant
76	76	[person] as an educational aide.
77	77	SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
78	78	54.208, Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and laboratory
79	79	fees charged for the 2011 fall semester. Tuition and laboratory
80	80	fees charged for an academic period before the 2011 fall semester
81	81	are covered by the law in effect immediately before the effective
82	82	date of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that
83	83	purpose.
84	84	SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
85	85	54.214, Education Code, applies to an exemption from tuition and
86	86	fees granted under that section beginning with the 2009 fall
87	87	semester.
88	88	SECTION 5. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
89	89	this section, this Act takes effect immediately if this Act
90	90	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
91	91	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
92	92	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
93	93	effect, except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section, this
94	94	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
95	95	(b) Sections 1 and 3 of this Act take effect January 1, 2011.
96	96	______________________________ ______________________________
97	97	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
98	98	I certify that H.B. No. 2347 was passed by the House on April
99	99	29, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 98, Nays 43, 1 present, not
100	100	voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
101	101	H.B. No. 2347 on May 29, 2009, and requested the appointment of a
102	102	conference committee to consider the differences between the two
103	103	houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
104	104	on H.B. No. 2347 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 135,
105	105	Nays 4, 1 present, not voting.
106	106	______________________________
107	107	Chief Clerk of the House
108	108	I certify that H.B. No. 2347 was passed by the Senate, with
109	109	amendments, on May 26, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
110	110	1; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
111	111	committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
112	112	that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
113	113	2347 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.
114	114	______________________________
115	115	Secretary of the Senate
116	116	APPROVED: __________________
117	117	Date
118	118	__________________
119	119	Governor