88R17139 JTZ-F
By: Ashby, Rogers H.B. No. 2158
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to tuition and fee exemptions for firefighters enrolled in
certain courses at public institutions of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.353(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The governing board of an institution of higher
education shall exempt from the payment of tuition and laboratory
fees any student enrolled in one or more courses offered as part of
a fire science curriculum who:
(1) is employed as a firefighter by a political
subdivision of this state; or
(2) is a member in good standing of a volunteer fire
department that is registered with the Texas A&M Forest Service and
responds to 9-1-1 emergency calls in a designated area [currently,
and has been for at least one year, an active member of an organized
volunteer fire department participating in the Texas Emergency
Services Retirement System or a retirement system established under
the Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e,
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)] and who:
(A) attends at least 20 hours of annual training
approved by the State Firefighters' and Fire Marshals' Association
of Texas;
(B) attends or provides support services for at
least 25 percent of the department's emergencies in a calendar
year; and
(C) holds:
(i) [(A)] an Accredited Advanced level of
certification, or an equivalent successor certification, under the
State Firefighters' [Firemen's] and Fire Marshals' Association of
Texas volunteer certification program; or
(ii) [(B)] Phase V (Firefighter II)
certification, or an equivalent successor certification, under the
Texas Commission on Fire Protection's voluntary certification
program under Section 419.071, Government Code.
SECTION 2. Section 54.353(a), Education Code, as amended by
this Act, applies beginning with tuition and laboratory fees
charged for the 2023 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, 2023.