86R4878 SOS-D
By: Metcalf H.B. No. 1008
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the service of a member of the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board or the commissioner of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.0223, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(a) It is a ground for removal from the board that a member:
(1) does not have at the time of taking office the
qualifications required by Section 61.0222(a);
(2) does not maintain during service on the board the
qualifications required by Section 61.0222(a);
(3) is ineligible for membership under Section 61.022
or 61.0222;
(4) cannot, because of illness or disability,
discharge the member's duties for a substantial part of the member's
term; [or]
(5) is absent from more than half of the regularly
scheduled board meetings that the member is eligible to attend
during a calendar year without an excuse approved by a majority vote
of the board; or
(6) has taken an action that impairs the execution of a
decision made by a majority of the board's membership at a board
meeting.
(d) If the lieutenant governor or a member of the
legislature has knowledge that a potential ground for removal
exists, the lieutenant governor or member, as applicable, may
inform the governor or the attorney general that a potential ground
for removal exists.
SECTION 2. Section 61.028, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) If at a board meeting the board determines based on
written evidence that the commissioner has taken an action that
impairs the execution of a decision made at a board meeting by a
majority of the board's membership, the board shall terminate the
commissioner's employment at that meeting or the next board
meeting. The board may adopt rules to administer this subsection.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.