Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2972 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
	1	+	89R11622 RDR-F
1	2		By: Creighton S.B. No. 2972
2		-	(In the Senate - Filed March 14, 2025; April 7, 2025, read
3		-	first time and referred to Committee on Education K-16;
4		-	April 28, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
5		-	Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 2; April 28, 2025,
6		-	sent to printer.)
7		-	Click here to see the committee vote
8		-	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2972 By: Paxton
9	3
10	4
11	5
12	6
13	7		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
14	8		AN ACT
15	9		relating to expressive activities at public institutions of higher
16	10		education.
17	11		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
18	12		SECTION 1. Sections 51.9315(a)(2), (3), and (4), Education
19	13		Code, are amended to read as follows:
20	14		(2) "Expressive activities" means any speech or
21	15		expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment to the United
22	16		States Constitution or by Section 8, Article I, Texas Constitution,
23	17		and includes assemblies, protests, speeches, the distribution of
24	18		written material, the carrying of signs, and the circulation of
25	19		petitions. The term does not include:
26	20		(A) commercial speech;
27	21		(B) defamation;
28	22		(C) unlawful harassment;
29	23		(D) incitement to imminent unlawful activity;
30	24		(E) obscenity; or
31	25		(F) threats to engage in unlawful activity.
32	26		(3) "Governing board" and "institution ["Institution]
33	27		of higher education" have [has] the meanings [meaning] assigned by
34	28		Section 61.003.
35	29		(4) "Student organization" includes any organization
36	30		that is composed [mostly] of students enrolled at an institution of
37	31		higher education and that receives a benefit from the institution.
38	32		SECTION 2. Section 51.9315, Education Code, is amended by
39	33		amending Subsections (b), (c), (d), and (f) and adding Subsections
40	34		(d-1) and (k) to read as follows:
41	35		(b) It is the policy of this state and the purpose of this
42	36		section to protect the expressive rights of persons guaranteed by
43	37		the constitutions of the United States and of this state by:
44	38		(1) recognizing freedom of speech and assembly as
45	39		central to the mission of institutions of higher education; and
46	40		(2) ensuring that students enrolled at and employees
47	41		of an institution of higher education [all persons] may assemble
48	42		peaceably on the campuses of the institution [institutions of
49	43		higher education] for expressive activities, including to listen to
50	44		or observe the expressive activities of others.
51	45		(c) An institution of higher education shall[:
52	46		[(1) ensure that the common outdoor areas of the
53	47		institution's campus are deemed traditional public forums; and
54	48		[(2)] permit students enrolled at and employees of the
55	49		institution [any person] to engage in expressive activities in the
56	50		common outdoor [those] areas of the institution's campus freely, as
57	51		long as the expressive activity [person's conduct]:
58	52		(1) [(A)] is not unlawful; and
59	53		(2) [(B)] does not materially and substantially
60	54		disrupt the functioning of the institution.
61	55		(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), an institution of
62	56		higher education may adopt a policy that imposes reasonable
63	57		restrictions on the time, place, and manner of expressive
64	58		activities of students enrolled at and employees of the institution
65	59		in the common outdoor areas of the institution's campus if those
66	60		restrictions:
67		-	(1) are reasonable in light of the purpose of the area
68		-	to which the restrictions apply [narrowly tailored to serve a
69		-	significant institutional interest];
	61	+	(1) are narrowly tailored to serve a significant
	62	+	institutional interest;
70	63		(2) employ clear, published, content-neutral, and
71	64		viewpoint-neutral criteria;
72	65		(3) provide for ample alternative means of expression;
73	66		and
74	67		(4) allow students enrolled at and employees of the
75	68		institution [members of the university community] to assemble or
76	69		distribute written material without a permit or other permission
77	70		from the institution.
78	71		(d-1) The governing board of an institution of higher
79	72		education may designate the areas on the institution's campus that
80	73		are public forums, consistent with the First Amendment to the
81	74		United States Constitution and Section 8, Article I, Texas
82	75		Constitution.
83	76		(f) Each institution of higher education shall adopt a
84	77		policy detailing [students'] rights and responsibilities regarding
85	78		expressive activities at the institution. The policy must:
86	79		(1) allow:
87	80		(A) students enrolled at and employees of the
88	81		institution [any person] to, subject to reasonable restrictions
89	82		adopted under Subsection (d), engage in expressive activities on
90	83		campus, including by responding to the expressive activities of
91	84		others; and
92	85		(B) student organizations and faculty to,
93		-	subject to Subdivision (2)(B)(ii) and Subsection (h), invite
94		-	speakers to speak on campus;
	86	+	subject to Subsection (h), invite speakers to speak on campus;
95	87		(2) prohibit:
96	88		(A) using a device to amplify sound while
97	89		engaging in expressive activities on campus during class hours;
98		-	(B) during the last two weeks of a semester or
99		-	term, engaging in expressive activities:
100		-	(i) in the common outdoor areas of the
101		-	institution's campus in a manner that materially and substantially
102		-	disrupts the functioning of the institution;
103		-	(ii) by inviting speakers to speak on
104		-	campus;
105		-	(iii) by using a device to amplify sound; or
106		-	(iv) by using drums or other percussive
107		-	instruments;
	90	+	(B) engaging in expressive activities on campus
	91	+	during the last two weeks of a semester or term;
108	92		(C) camping or erecting tents or other living
109	93		accommodations on campus;
110	94		(D) wearing a mask, facial covering, disguise, or
111	95		other means of concealing a person's identity while engaging in
112	96		expressive activities on campus with the intent to:
113	97		(i) obstruct the enforcement of the
114	98		institution's rules or the law by avoiding identification;
115	99		(ii) intimidate others; or
116	100		(iii) interfere with an institution
117	101		employee's or a peace officer's lawful performance of a duty;
118	102		(E) lowering the institution's flag of the United
119	103		States or of this state with the intent to raise the flag of another
120	104		nation or a flag representing an organization or group of people;
121	105		and
122	106		(F) engaging in expressive activities on campus
123	107		between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.;
124	108		(3) [(2)] establish disciplinary sanctions for
125	109		students, student organizations, or employees [faculty] who unduly
126	110		interfere with the expressive activities of others on campus or
127	111		violate an institution policy or state law;
128	112		(4) [(3)] include a grievance procedure for
129	113		addressing complaints of a violation of this section;
130	114		(5) require students enrolled at or employees of the
131	115		institution to present proof of identity and status at the
132	116		institution on request by a peace officer on the institution's
133	117		campus engaging in an official duty;
134	118		(6) [(4)] be approved by a majority vote of the
135	119		institution's governing board before final adoption; and
136	120		(7) [(5)] be posted on the institution's Internet
137	121		website.
138	122		(k) Nothing in this section limits the authority of an
139	123		institution of higher education to adopt rules differentiating
140	124		between the rights of students and employees to engage in
141	125		expressive activities on campus and those of persons not affiliated
142	126		with the institution.
143	127		SECTION 3. Section 51.9315, Education Code, as amended by
144	128		this Act, applies beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year.
145	129		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
146	130		a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
147	131		provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
148	132		Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
149	133		Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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