H.B. No. 2347
AN ACT
relating to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of
higher education for certain peace officers enrolled in criminal
justice or law enforcement course work and for certain educational
aides.
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 AND PEACE OFFICERS [FIREMEN]
ENROLLED IN CERTAIN [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 a student [any person] who is employed as a
firefighter [fireman] by a [any] political subdivision of this
[the] state and who enrolls in a course or courses offered as part
of a fire science curriculum.
(b) The governing board of an institution of higher
education shall exempt from the payment of tuition and laboratory
fees charged by the institution for a criminal justice or law
enforcement course or courses an undergraduate student who:
(1) is employed as a peace officer by this state or by
a political subdivision of this state;
(2) is enrolled in a criminal justice or law
enforcement-related degree program at the institution;
(3) is making satisfactory academic progress toward
the student's degree as determined by the institution; and
(4) applies for the exemption at least one week before
the last date of the institution's regular registration period for
the applicable semester or other term.
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), a student may not
receive an exemption under that subsection for any course if the
student has previously attempted a number of semester credit hours
for courses taken at any institution of higher education while
classified as a resident student for tuition purposes in excess of
the maximum number of those hours specified by Section 61.0595(a)
as eligible for funding under the formulas established under
Section 61.059.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), the governing board of
an institution of higher education may not provide exemptions under
that subsection to students enrolled in a specific class in a number
that exceeds 20 percent of the maximum student enrollment
designated by the institution for that class.
(e) 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.
(f) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
adopt:
(1) rules governing the granting or denial of an
exemption under this section, including rules relating to the
determination of a student's eligibility for an exemption; and
(2) a uniform listing of degree programs covered by
the exemption under this section.
(g) If the legislature does not specifically appropriate
funds to an institution of higher education in an amount sufficient
to pay the institution's costs in complying with this section for a
semester, the governing board of the institution of higher
education shall report to the Senate Finance Committee and the
House Appropriations Committee the cost to the institution of
complying with this section for that semester.
SECTION 2. Section 54.214(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The institution of higher education at which a person
seeking an exemption under this section is enrolled [coordinating
board] must certify the [a] person's eligibility to receive the
[an] exemption [under this section]. As soon as practicable after
receiving an application for certification, the institution
[coordinating board] shall make the determination of eligibility
and give notice of its determination to the applicant[, the
institution of higher education at which the applicant is
enrolled,] and to the school district employing the applicant
[person] as an educational aide.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
54.208, Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and laboratory
fees charged for the 2011 fall semester. Tuition and laboratory
fees charged for an academic period before the 2011 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 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
54.214, Education Code, applies to an exemption from tuition and
fees granted under that section beginning with the 2009 fall
semester.
SECTION 5. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, this Act takes effect immediately if this Act
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, except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
(b) Sections 1 and 3 of this Act take effect January 1, 2011.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2347 was passed by the House on April
29, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 98, Nays 43, 1 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 2347 on May 29, 2009, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 2347 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 135,
Nays 4, 1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2347 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 26, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
1; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
2347 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor