86R4757 KJE-D
By: Watson S.B. No. 447
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the protection of expressive activities at public
institutions of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.9315 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.9315. PROTECTED EXPRESSION ON CAMPUS. (a) In this
section:
(1) "Expressive activities" means any speech or
expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment to the United
States Constitution or Section 8, Article I, Texas Constitution,
and includes assemblies, protests, speeches, the distribution of
written material, the carrying of signs, and the circulation of
petitions.
(2) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003.
(b) An institution of higher education may not:
(1) designate any area on campus as a free speech zone
or otherwise create policies implying that its students' expressive
activities are restricted to particular areas of campus; or
(2) restrict the right of students to engage in
expression in a traditional public forum.
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), an institution of
higher education may adopt a policy that imposes reasonable
restrictions on the time, place, and manner of expressive
activities in the common outdoor areas of the institution's campus
if those restrictions:
(1) are narrowly tailored to serve a significant
institutional interest;
(2) employ clear, published, content-neutral, and
viewpoint-neutral criteria; and
(3) provide for ample alternative means of expression.
(d) Each institution of higher education shall adopt a
policy that:
(1) prohibits preventing a student from engaging in
expressive activities because of the content or message of the
expressive activities;
(2) prohibits any institution official or employee
from preventing or disinviting a speaker from speaking at the
institution for any reason other than a reasonable concern
regarding a legitimate risk to campus safety; and
(3) establishes disciplinary sanctions for students
or employees who persist in unduly interfering with the expressive
activities of others on campus after being asked by an institution
official or employee to stop the interference.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.