87R8537 CXP-D
By: Beckley H.B. No. 1898
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the exemption of tuition and laboratory fees at public
institutions of higher education for certain emergency operators or
dispatchers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 54.3533 to read as follows:
Sec. 54.3533. EMERGENCY OPERATORS OR DISPATCHERS ENROLLED
IN CERTAIN COURSES. (a) The governing board of an institution of
higher education shall exempt from the payment of tuition and
laboratory fees charged by the institution for courses relating to
emergency telecommunications, criminal justice, or emergency
medical services an undergraduate student who:
(1) is employed as an emergency response operator or
emergency services dispatcher by this state or by a political
subdivision of this state;
(2) is enrolled in a certificate or degree program
relating to emergency telecommunications, criminal justice, or
emergency medical services at the institution;
(3) is making satisfactory academic progress toward
the student's certificate or degree as determined by the
institution; and
(4) applies for the exemption at least one week before
the last date of the institution's regular registration period for
the applicable semester or other term.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a student may not
receive an exemption under this section for any course if the
student has previously attempted a number of semester credit hours
for courses taken at any institution of higher education while
classified as a resident student for tuition purposes in excess of
the maximum number of those hours specified by Section 61.0595(a)
as eligible for funding under the formulas established under
Section 61.059.
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the governing board of
an institution of higher education may not provide exemptions under
this section to students enrolled in a specific class in a number
that exceeds 20 percent of the maximum student enrollment
designated by the institution for that class.
(d) An exemption provided under this section does not apply
to deposits that may be required in the nature of security for the
return or proper care of property loaned for the use of students.
(e) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
adopt:
(1) rules governing the granting or denial of an
exemption under this section, including rules relating to the
determination of a student's eligibility for an exemption; and
(2) a uniform listing of certificate and degree
programs covered by the exemption under this section.
(f) If the legislature does not specifically appropriate
funds to an institution of higher education in an amount sufficient
to pay the institution's costs in complying with this section for a
semester or other term, the governing board of the institution
shall report to the Senate Finance Committee and the House
Appropriations Committee the cost to the institution of complying
with this section for that semester or other term.
SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board shall adopt the rules required by Section 54.3533, Education
Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after the
effective date of this Act.
(b) Section 54.3533, Education Code, as added by this Act,
applies beginning with tuition and laboratory fees charged for the
2021 fall semester. Tuition and laboratory fees charged for an
academic period before that semester are covered by the law in
effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. 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, 2021.