| 1 | 1 | | H.B. No. 2961 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | AN ACT |
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| 5 | 5 | | relating to authorizing an increase in the student union fee at the |
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| 6 | 6 | | University of Houston. |
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| 7 | 7 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 8 | 8 | | SECTION 1. Section 54.526, Education Code, is amended by |
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| 9 | 9 | | amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as |
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| 10 | 10 | | follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | (a) The board of regents of the University of Houston System |
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| 12 | 12 | | may levy a student union fee, not to exceed $150 [$35] per student |
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| 13 | 13 | | for each regular semester and not to exceed $75 [$17.50] per student |
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| 14 | 14 | | for each term of the summer session. The sole purpose of the fee is |
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| 15 | 15 | | financing, constructing, operating, maintaining, and improving a |
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| 16 | 16 | | Student Union Building for the University of Houston. The fees |
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| 17 | 17 | | herein authorized to be levied are in addition to any use or service |
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| 18 | 18 | | fee now or hereafter authorized to be levied. |
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| 19 | 19 | | (c) The fee may not be charged after the fifth academic year |
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| 20 | 20 | | in which the fee is first charged unless, before the end of that |
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| 21 | 21 | | academic year, the university has issued bonds payable in whole or |
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| 22 | 22 | | in part from the fee, in which event the fee may not be charged after |
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| 23 | 23 | | the academic year in which all such bonds, including refunding |
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| 24 | 24 | | bonds for those bonds, have been fully paid. |
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| 25 | 25 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies |
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| 26 | 26 | | beginning with student fees charged by a public institution of |
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| 27 | 27 | | higher education for the 2009-2010 academic year. Student fees |
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| 28 | 28 | | charged by a public institution of higher education for an academic |
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| 29 | 29 | | year before that academic year are covered by the law in effect |
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| 30 | 30 | | before the effective date of this Act, and the former law is |
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| 31 | 31 | | continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 32 | 32 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 33 | 33 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 34 | 34 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 35 | 35 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 36 | 36 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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| 37 | 37 | | ______________________________ ______________________________ |
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| 38 | 38 | | President of the Senate Speaker of the House |
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| 39 | 39 | | I certify that H.B. No. 2961 was passed by the House on May 5, |
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| 40 | 40 | | 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1 present, not |
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| 41 | 41 | | voting. |
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| 42 | 42 | | ______________________________ |
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| 43 | 43 | | Chief Clerk of the House |
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| 44 | 44 | | I certify that H.B. No. 2961 was passed by the Senate on May |
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| 45 | 45 | | 26, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. |
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| 46 | 46 | | ______________________________ |
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| 47 | 47 | | Secretary of the Senate |
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| 48 | 48 | | APPROVED: _____________________ |
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| 49 | 49 | | Date |
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| 50 | 50 | | _____________________ |
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| 51 | 51 | | Governor |
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