Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3890 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	86R25730 SOS-F
2		-	By: Cole, Howard, Toth, Guillen, Dutton, H.B. No. 3890
3		-	et al.
4		-	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3890:
5		-	By: E. Johnson of Dallas C.S.H.B. No. 3890
	1	+	86R11296 SOS-F
	2	+	By: Cole H.B. No. 3890
6	3
7	4
8	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	6		AN ACT
10	7		relating to the exemption of tuition and laboratory fees at public
11	8		institutions of higher education for certain paramedics.
12	9		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	10		SECTION 1. The heading to Section 54.353, Education Code,
14	11		is amended to read as follows:
15	12		Sec. 54.353. FIREFIGHTERS OR PARAMEDICS ENROLLED IN FIRE
16	13		SCIENCE COURSES.
17		-	SECTION 2. Section 54.353, Education Code, is amended by
18		-	amending Subsections (a) and (f) and adding Subsection (e-1) to
19		-	read as follows:
	14	+	SECTION 2. Sections 54.353(a) and (f), Education Code, are
	15	+	amended to read as follows:
20	16		(a) The governing board of an institution of higher
21	17		education shall exempt from the payment of tuition and laboratory
22	18		fees any student enrolled in one or more courses offered as part of
23	19		a fire science curriculum who:
24	20		(1) is employed as a firefighter or a paramedic by a
25	21		political subdivision of this state; or
26	22		(2) is currently, and has been for at least one year,
27	23		an active member of an organized volunteer fire department
28	24		participating in the Texas Emergency Services Retirement System or
29	25		a retirement system established under the Texas Local Fire Fighters
30	26		Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) and
31	27		who holds:
32	28		(A) an Accredited Advanced level of
33	29		certification, or an equivalent successor certification, under the
34	30		State Firemen's and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas volunteer
35	31		certification program; or
36	32		(B) Phase V (Firefighter II) certification, or an
37	33		equivalent successor certification, under the Texas Commission on
38	34		Fire Protection's voluntary certification program under Section
39	35		419.071, Government Code.
40		-	(e-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the governing board
41		-	of an institution of higher education may, in accordance with Texas
42		-	Higher Education Coordinating Board rule, exclude from the
43		-	exemption under this section a course that is offered through
44		-	distance education.
45	36		(f) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
46	37		adopt:
47	38		(1) rules governing the granting or denial of an
48	39		exemption under this section, including rules:
49	40		(A) prescribing the educational attainment or
50	41		level of certification necessary to qualify for an exemption as a
51		-	paramedic;
	42	+	paramedic; and
52	43		(B) relating to the determination of a student's
53	44		eligibility for an exemption; and
54		-	(C) relating to the exclusion from the exemption
55		-	under Subsection (e-1) of a distance education course, including
56		-	prescribing the maximum number of distance education courses that
57		-	may be excluded from the exemption under that subsection; and
58	45		(2) a uniform listing of degree programs covered by
59	46		the exemption under this section.
60	47		SECTION 3. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating
61	48		Board shall adopt the rules required by Section 54.353(f),
62	49		Education Code, as amended by this Act, as soon as practicable after
63	50		the effective date of this Act.
64	51		(b) Section 54.353, Education Code, as amended by this Act,
65	52		applies beginning with tuition and laboratory fees charged for the
66	53		2019 fall semester. Tuition and laboratory fees charged for an
67	54		academic period before that semester are covered by the law in
68	55		effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
69	56		former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
70	57		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
71	58		a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
72	59		provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
73	60		Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
74	61		Act takes effect September 1, 2019.