86R13100 SOS-F
By: Raney, Larson, Sheffield, Flynn, H.B. No. 3266
Bell of Montgomery, et al.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to fees charged to students enrolled at component
institutions of The Texas A&M University System.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.5032(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A student fee advisory committee is established at each
component institution of The Texas A&M University System to advise
the board of regents and the administration of the institution on
the type, amount, and expenditure of compulsory fees for student
services under Section 54.503, for student [health and] medical
services under Section 54.507, for student center facilities under
Section 54.521, and for recreational sports under Section 54.539.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 54.507, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 54.507. STUDENT [GROUP HOSPITAL AND] MEDICAL SERVICES
FEES; THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.
SECTION 3. Sections 54.507(a), (b), (c), and (f), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System
may levy and collect from each student at any institution of higher
education which is a part of The Texas A&M University System a
compulsory student [group hospital and] medical services fee not to
exceed $200 [$75] for each regular semester and not to exceed $100
[$25] for each term of each summer session. The compulsory student
[group hospital and] medical services fee may not be levied unless
the levy of the fee has been approved by a majority vote of those
students at the affected institution participating in a general
student election called for that purpose.
(b) In addition to the fee authorized under Subsection (a)
[of this section], the Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University
System may levy and collect from each student registered at Prairie
View A&M University a supplemental student [group hospital and]
medical services fee not to exceed $30 for each regular semester and
not to exceed $12.50 for each term of the summer session. The
supplemental student [group hospital and] medical services fee may
not be levied unless the levy of the fee has been approved by a
majority vote of the students registered at Prairie View A&M
University participating in a general election called for that
purpose.
(c) A fee levied under this section at a component
institution of The Texas A&M University System may be used only to
finance, construct, operate, renovate, maintain, or improve new or
existing student medical facilities or provide [hospital or other]
medical services to students registered at that component
institution.
(f) An election under this section must also permit the
students to vote on whether student [hospital and] medical services
should be provided to students at the institution by the
institution or by a private entity. The vote by the students on the
responsibility for provision of student [hospital and] medical
services to students at the institution is not binding on the
institution.
SECTION 4. Sections 54.521(a) and (e), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The board of regents of The Texas A&M University System
may levy a regular, fixed student fee on each student enrolled in an
educational institution within The Texas A&M University System for
the purpose of acquiring, constructing, renovating, operating,
maintaining, improving, adding to, replacing, financing, and
equipping one or more student center facilities for the
institution. The board may set fees in amounts it considers just and
necessary but not to exceed $200 [$100] per student for each
semester for the long session and not to exceed $100 [$50] per
student for each term of the summer session, or any fractional part
of a session. The activities of a student center facility that may
be financed in whole or in part by the student center facility fee
are limited to those activities in which the entire student body is
eligible to participate. The financed activities may not be held
outside the territorial limits of any educational institution
within The Texas A&M University System.
(e) The amount of the fee authorized by this section may not
be increased from one academic year to the next by 10 percent or
more, unless the increase has been approved by a majority vote of
the students at the affected institution participating in a general
election called for that purpose or, if the amount of the fee
increase does not exceed 10 percent, the amount of the fee increase
has been approved by a majority vote of the board of regents taken
at a board meeting on the increase after giving students an
opportunity for public comment on the increase [except that at
Tarleton State University the fee may be increased by not more than
10 percent from one academic year to the next without holding an
election]. The fee may not exceed the maximum amounts provided by
Subsection (a).
SECTION 5. Sections 54.507 and 54.521, Education Code, as
amended by this Act, apply beginning with fees charged for the
2019-2020 academic year. A fee charged in an academic year before
that academic year is covered by the law in effect before the
effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2019.