By: Springer S.B. No. 567
(In the Senate - Filed January 23, 2023; February 17, 2023,
read first time and referred to Subcommittee on Higher Education;
April 17, 2023, reported favorably from Committee on Education by
the following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0; April 17, 2023, sent to
printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to firefighters enrolled in fire science courses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.353, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 54.353. FIREFIGHTERS ENROLLED IN FIRE SCIENCE
COURSES. (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 in a volunteer
firefighter department, registered with Texas Forest Service and
providing 911 service to a designated area [is 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: [holds:]
(A) attends at least 20 hours of annual training;
(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 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.
(b) 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.
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a student who for a
semester or term at an institution of higher education receives an
exemption under this section may continue to receive the exemption
for a subsequent semester or term at any institution only if the
student makes satisfactory academic progress toward a degree or
certificate at that institution as determined by the institution
for purposes of financial aid.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the exemption provided
under this section does not apply to any amount of additional
tuition the institution elects to charge a resident undergraduate
student under Section 54.014(a) or (f).
(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the exemption provided
under this section does not apply to any amount of tuition the
institution charges a graduate student in excess of the amount of
tuition charged to similarly situated graduate students because the
student has a number of semester credit hours of doctoral work in
excess of the applicable number provided by Section 61.059(l)(1) or
(2).
(f) 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 degree programs covered by
the exemption under this section.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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