Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1323 Compare Versions

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

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1	1	By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1323
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the academic costs charged to resident undergraduate
7	7	students by general academic teaching institutions and to certain
8	8	reports regarding certain costs of those institutions.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Section 54.018 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 54.018. LIMITATION ON INCREASE IN TOTAL ACADEMIC COSTS
13	13	CHARGED TO RESIDENT UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. (a) In this section:
14	14	(1) "General academic teaching institution" has the
15	15	meaning assigned by Section 61.003.
16	16	(2) "Core operational costs" means those costs as
17	17	estimated by the Legislative Budget Board under Section 51.979.
18	18	(3) "Total academic costs":
19	19	(A) includes:
20	20	(i) tuition for which the rates are
21	21	prescribed by this chapter;
22	22	(ii) tuition charged by a general academic
23	23	teaching institution under Section 54.0513 or another law
24	24	authorizing a general academic teaching institution to establish
25	25	tuition rates;
26	26	(iii) mandatory academic fees; and
27	27	(iv) any other academic-related general
28	28	fees and course fees, including fees for laboratories, field trips,
29	29	access to Internet or multimedia service, equipment replacement,
30	30	and instructional technology; and
31	31	(B) does not include optional fees charged to a
32	32	student for voluntary services or a fee approved by students of the
33	33	institution in a referendum held at the institution for that
34	34	purpose.
35	35	(b) If for any state fiscal biennium the legislature
36	36	appropriates to a general academic teaching institution from
37	37	undedicated general revenue an amount that is less than the amount
38	38	necessary to fully fund the institution's core operational costs
39	39	for that biennium, the total academic costs charged by the
40	40	institution to undergraduate students who are residents of this
41	41	state for an academic year of that biennium may not exceed the
42	42	amount that, when added to the amount of undedicated general
43	43	revenue appropriated to the institution for the corresponding state
44	44	fiscal year for that purpose, is equal to the institution's core
45	45	operational costs for that corresponding state fiscal year.
46	46	(c) Notwithstanding Section 54.0513(c), the legislature in
47	47	an appropriations Act may provide for an adjustment of general
48	48	revenue appropriated to a general academic teaching institution for
49	49	a state fiscal year to account for an increase in the amount of
50	50	total academic costs charged by the institution in that fiscal year
51	51	to an individual student of the institution to whom this section
52	52	applies, in excess of an amount specified in the appropriations
53	53	Act, if the legislature specifies such an amount in that Act.
54	54	(d) For purposes of this section, students are similarly
55	55	situated if they share the same residency status, degree program,
56	56	course load, course level, tuition exemption status, and other
57	57	circumstances affecting the total academic costs charged to the
58	58	student.
59	59	(e) This section does not ensure that the total academic
60	60	costs charged to an individual student will not increase by more
61	61	than the limitation prescribed by Subsection (b) based on a change
62	62	in the student's residency status, degree program, course load,
63	63	course level, tuition exemption status, or other circumstance
64	64	affecting the total academic costs charged to the student.
65	65	SECTION 2. Section 54.0513, Education Code, is amended by
66	66	amending Subsection (c) as follows:
67	67	(c) Amounts collected by an institution of higher education
68	68	under this section are institutional funds as defined by Section
69	69	51.009 [of this code] and shall be accounted for as designated
70	70	funds. These funds shall not be accounted for in a general
71	71	appropriations act in such a way as to reduce the general revenue
72	72	appropriation to a particular institution except as provided by
73	73	Section 54.018(c).
74	74	SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
75	75	amended by adding Section 51.979 to read as follows:
76	76	Sec. 51.979. BIENNIAL REPORT BY LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
77	77	REGARDING CERTAIN UNIVERSITY COSTS. (a) Not later than September
78	78	1 of each even-numbered year, the Legislative Budget Board shall
79	79	submit to the Senate Finance Committee, the House Appropriations
80	80	Committee, and the standing committee of each house with primary
81	81	jurisdiction over higher education for consideration by the members
82	82	of those committees in determining the amount of general revenue
83	83	appropriations to general academic teaching institutions and
84	84	tuition rates at those institutions, the Legislative Budget Board's
85	85	estimate of the core operational costs for the next state fiscal
86	86	biennium for each general academic teaching institution, based on a
87	87	methodology that:
88	88	(1) projects for each year of the next biennium:
89	89	(A) changes in student enrollment for each
90	90	institution; and
91	91	(B) a rate of inflation; and
92	92	(2) uses data from each institution's annual financial
93	93	report regarding costs for instruction, academic support,
94	94	institutional support, operations and maintenance of physical
95	95	plants, and student services.
96	96	(b) The Legislative Budget Board shall submit with its
97	97	estimate under Subsection (a)(1) a comparison of each institution's
98	98	actual core operational costs for the preceding state fiscal
99	99	biennium to the board's previous estimate of the institution's core
100	100	operational costs for that biennium.
101	101	SECTION 4. Not later than September 1, 2018, each general
102	102	academic teaching institution shall submit to the Legislative
103	103	Budget Board, the Senate Committee on Finance, the House
104	104	Appropriations Committee, and the standing committee of each house
105	105	with primary jurisdiction over higher education a detailed plan for
106	106	reducing the institution's operational costs by at least five
107	107	percent.
108	108	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
109	109	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
110	110	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
111	111	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
112	112	Act takes effect September 1, 2017.