83R26338 KSD-F
By: Krause, King of Parker H.B. No. 360
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 360:
By: Branch C.S.H.B. No. 360
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain requirements of public institutions of higher
education regarding student organization membership.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.9362 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.9362. CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS
REGARDING STUDENT ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIP. (a) It is the policy
of this state to promote diversity of thought and the marketplace of
ideas on the campuses of public institutions of higher education in
this state, including by:
(1) protecting the rights of freedom of speech and
freedom of association guaranteed by the constitutions of the
United States and of this state so that all students of those
institutions may assemble peaceably for a specific stated purpose
and goal; and
(2) ensuring that those rights are not unnecessarily
restricted or impeded by rules or policies adopted by those
institutions.
(b) In this section:
(1) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003.
(2) "Religious student organization" means a student
organization whose charter, bylaws, mission statement, policies,
or practices indicate that the organization is guided or motivated
by religion.
(3) "Student organization" includes any organization
that is composed mostly of students enrolled at an institution of
higher education and that:
(A) is registered with the institution;
(B) receives student organization resource fee
revenues or other funding from the institution; or
(C) is otherwise recognized as a student
organization by the institution.
(c) An institution of higher education is subject to a
penalty under Subsection (e) if the institution requires a student
organization, including a religious student organization, to
accept for membership in the organization a student:
(1) who demonstrates opposition to the organization's
stated beliefs and purposes; or
(2) whose membership in the organization:
(A) would affect in a significant way the
organization's ability to advocate public or private viewpoints; or
(B) is designed for the subversive intent of
undermining the organization's ability to assemble for its stated
purposes.
(d) An institution of higher education with a policy
requiring a religious student organization to allow any student
enrolled at the institution to participate in the organization,
regardless of the student's beliefs, violates the organization's
members' First Amendment rights guaranteed by the United States
Constitution, including the rights of free exercise of religion and
of freedom of association.
(e) If the comptroller determines that an institution of
higher education has incurred a penalty for a violation of
Subsection (c), the comptroller shall assess the penalty in an
amount equal to the total amount of student activity fees collected
by the institution in the academic year in which the violation
occurred. The comptroller shall collect the penalty by withholding
the amount of the penalty from the undedicated general revenue
appropriated by the legislature to the institution in the fiscal
year in which the penalty is assessed or, if necessary, in the next
fiscal year.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.