Enrolled Bill Summary

Senate Bill 1655	Senate Author:  West
Effective:  Vetoed	House Sponsor:  Morrison

            Senate Bill 1655 amends the Education Code to authorize the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to establish a fee, capped at specified amounts, to be charged by the board to cover all or a portion of the coordinating board's costs associated with issuing, maintaining, or revising a certificate of authorization or certificate of authority and maintaining a repository for student transcripts from closed institutions that were authorized to operate under a certificate of authorization or certificate of authority. The bill requires the coordinating board to maintain a repository for student transcripts from such closed institutions and authorizes the coordinating board to discontinue maintenance of the repository under certain conditions and to charge a fee to students requesting transcript copies.

 

Reason Given for Veto: "The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board already has the legal authority to perform the services described in Senate Bill 1655. The primary purpose of the bill is to raise more revenue for the Board by creating new fees that will ultimately be paid for by students through increased tuition. These fees would be unnecessary burdens on institutions of higher education and their students. The Board should operate within its existing resources."