Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4079 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Coleman H.B. No. 4079
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to student fees at the University of Houston System.
7	7	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	8	SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
9	9	amended by adding Section 54.503 to read as follows:
10	10	Sec. 54.503. STUDENT SERVICES FEES. (a) For the purposes of
11	11	this section:
12	12	(1) "Student services" means activities which are
13	13	separate and apart from the regularly scheduled academic functions
14	14	of the institution and directly involve or benefit students,
15	15	including textbook rentals, recreational activities, health and
16	16	hospital services, medical services, intramural and
17	17	intercollegiate athletics, artists and lecture series, cultural
18	18	entertainment series, debating and oratorical activities, student
19	19	publications, student government, the student fee advisory
20	20	committee, student transportation services other than services
21	21	under Sections 54.504, 54.511, 54.512, and 54.513 of this code, and
22	22	any other student activities and services specifically authorized
23	23	and approved by the governing board of the institution of higher
24	24	education. The term does not include services for which a fee is
25	25	charged under another section of this code.
26	26	(2) "Compulsory fee" means a fee that is charged to all
27	27	students enrolled at the institution.
28	28	(3) "Voluntary fee" means a fee that is charged only to
29	29	those students who make use of the student service for which the fee
30	30	is established.
31	31	(b) The governing board of an institution of higher
32	32	education may charge and collect from students registered at the
33	33	institution fees to cover the cost of student services. The fee or
34	34	fees may be either voluntary or compulsory as determined by the
35	35	governing board. The total of all compulsory student services fees
36	36	collected from a student at an institution of higher education
37	37	other than The University of Texas at Austin or a component
38	38	institution of the University of Houston System for any one
39	39	semester or summer session shall not exceed $250. All compulsory
40	40	student services fees charged and collected under this section by
41	41	the governing board of an institution of higher education, other
42	42	than a public junior college, shall be assessed in proportion to the
43	43	number of semester credit hours for which a student registers. No
44	44	portion of the compulsory fees collected may be expended for
45	45	parking facilities or services, except as related to providing
46	46	shuttle bus services.
47	47	(c) The provisions of this section do not affect the
48	48	building use fees or other special fees authorized by the
49	49	legislature for any institution for the purpose of financing
50	50	revenue bond issues.
51	51	(d) All money collected as student services fees shall be
52	52	reserved and accounted for in an account or accounts kept separate
53	53	and apart from educational and general funds of the institution and
54	54	shall be used only for the support of student services. All the
55	55	money shall be placed in a depository bank or banks designated by
56	56	the governing board and shall be secured as required by law. Each
57	57	year the governing board shall approve for the institution a
58	58	separate budget for student activities and services financed by
59	59	fees authorized in this section. The budget shall show the fees to
60	60	be assessed, the purpose or functions to be financed, the estimated
61	61	income to be derived, and the proposed expenditures to be made.
62	62	Copies of the budgets shall be filed annually with the coordinating
63	63	board, the governor, the legislative budget board, and the state
64	64	library.
65	65	(e) Repealed by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 359, Sec.
66	66	16(2), eff. January 1, 2012.
67	67	(f) If the total compulsory fee charged under this section
68	68	is more than $150, the increase does not take effect unless the
69	69	increase is approved by a majority vote of the students voting in an
70	70	election held for that purpose or by a majority vote of the student
71	71	government at the institution. In subsequent years, an election
72	72	authorizing a fee increase must be held before the fee can be
73	73	increased by more than 10 percent of the fee approved at the last
74	74	student election.
75	75	(g) If a student registers at more than one institution of
76	76	higher education within a college or university system under
77	77	concurrent enrollment provisions of joint or cooperative programs
78	78	between institutions, the student shall pay all compulsory student
79	79	services fees to the institution designated as the home institution
80	80	under the joint or cooperative program. The governing board of the
81	81	college or university system may waive the payment of all
82	82	compulsory student services fees at the other institution or
83	83	institutions.
84	84	(h) Except for Subsection (g) of this section, this section
85	85	does not apply to The University of Texas at Austin or a component
86	86	institution of the University of Houston System.
87	87	(i) General revenue appropriations, other educational and
88	88	general income, and funds appropriated under Article VII, Section
89	89	17 or 18, of the Texas Constitution may be expended on a
90	90	proportional use basis to support the services, activities, and
91	91	facilities provided for in this section to the extent that the use
92	92	of such funds is not otherwise restricted by the Texas Constitution
93	93	or general law.
94	94	(j) Student fees at the University of Houston System shall
95	95	be used for their intended purposes.
96	96	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.