83R8100 KSD-D
 
  By: Creighton H.B. No. 3268
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of
  higher education for certain peace officers and firefighters.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
  SECTION 1.  Sections 54.353 and 54.3531, Education Code,
  which were added by Section 17, Chapter 359 (S.B. 32), Acts of the
  82nd Legislature, Regular Session, 2011, as a nonsubstantive
  redesignation of the two versions of Section 54.208, Education
  Code, as amended by Chapters 1285 (H.B. 2013) and 1299 (H.B. 2347),
  Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, are reenacted
  to conform to the reenactment of Section 54.208, Education Code,
  and the addition of Section 54.2081, Education Code, by Chapter 959
  (H.B. 1163), Acts of the 82nd Legislature, Regular Session, 2011,
  and in addition Section 54.3531, 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 currently, and has been for at least one year,
  an active member of an organized volunteer fire department in this
  state, as defined by the fire fighters' pension commissioner, who
  holds:
                     (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
                     (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.
         Sec. 54.3531.  PEACE OFFICERS ENROLLED IN CERTAIN DEGREE
  PROGRAMS [COURSES]. (a)  The governing board of an institution of
  higher education shall exempt from the payment of all tuition and
  laboratory fees charged by the institution [for a criminal justice
  or law enforcement course or courses] an undergraduate student who:
               (1)  is employed as a peace officer by this state or by
  a political subdivision of this state;
               (2)  is enrolled in a criminal justice or law
  enforcement-related degree program at the institution;
               (3)  is making satisfactory academic progress toward
  the student's 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 degree programs to which 
  [covered by the exemption under] this section applies.
         (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, the governing board of the institution of higher
  education 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.
         SECTION 2.  Sections 54.208 and 54.2081, Education Code, are
  repealed.
         SECTION 3.  Section 54.3531, Education Code, as reenacted
  and amended by this Act, applies beginning with tuition and other
  fees charged for the 2013 fall semester. Tuition and other 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 4.  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, 2013.