Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB384 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R403 MM-F
2	2	By: Powell S.B. No. 384
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the exemption of tuition and laboratory fees at public
8	8	institutions of higher education for certain paramedics.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. The heading to Section 54.353, Education Code,
11	11	is amended to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 54.353. FIREFIGHTERS OR PARAMEDICS ENROLLED IN FIRE
13	13	SCIENCE COURSES.
14	14	SECTION 2. Section 54.353, Education Code, is amended by
15	15	amending Subsections (a) and (f) and adding Subsection (e-1) to
16	16	read as follows:
17	17	(a) The governing board of an institution of higher
18	18	education shall exempt from the payment of tuition and laboratory
19	19	fees any student enrolled in one or more courses offered as part of
20	20	a fire science curriculum who:
21	21	(1) is employed as a firefighter or a paramedic by a
22	22	political subdivision of this state; or
23	23	(2) is currently, and has been for at least one year,
24	24	an active member of an organized volunteer fire department
25	25	participating in the Texas Emergency Services Retirement System or
26	26	a retirement system established under the Texas Local Fire Fighters
27	27	Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) and
28	28	who holds:
29	29	(A) an Accredited Advanced level of
30	30	certification, or an equivalent successor certification, under the
31	31	State Firemen's and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas volunteer
32	32	certification program; or
33	33	(B) Phase V (Firefighter II) certification, or an
34	34	equivalent successor certification, under the Texas Commission on
35	35	Fire Protection's voluntary certification program under Section
36	36	419.071, Government Code.
37	37	(e-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the governing board
38	38	of an institution of higher education may, in accordance with Texas
39	39	Higher Education Coordinating Board rule, exclude from the
40	40	exemption under this section a course that is offered through
41	41	distance education.
42	42	(f) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
43	43	adopt:
44	44	(1) rules governing the granting or denial of an
45	45	exemption under this section, including rules:
46	46	(A) prescribing the educational attainment or
47	47	level of certification necessary to qualify for an exemption as a
48	48	paramedic;
49	49	(B) relating to the determination of a student's
50	50	eligibility for an exemption; and
51	51	(C) relating to the exclusion from the exemption
52	52	under Subsection (e-1) of a distance education course, including
53	53	prescribing the maximum number of distance education courses that
54	54	may be excluded from the exemption under that subsection; and
55	55	(2) a uniform listing of degree programs covered by
56	56	the exemption under this section.
57	57	SECTION 3. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating
58	58	Board shall adopt the rules required by Section 54.353(f),
59	59	Education Code, as amended by this Act, as soon as practicable after
60	60	the effective date of this Act.
61	61	(b) Section 54.353, Education Code, as amended by this Act,
62	62	applies beginning with tuition and laboratory fees charged for the
63	63	2021 fall semester. Tuition and laboratory fees charged for an
64	64	academic period before that semester are covered by the law in
65	65	effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
66	66	former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
67	67	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
68	68	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
69	69	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
70	70	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
71	71	Act takes effect September 1, 2021.