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Senate Bill 18 |
Senate Author: Huffman et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-19 |
House Sponsor: Geren et al. |
Senate Bill 18 amends the Education Code to establish the state's policy to protect the expressive rights of persons guaranteed by the United States and Texas Constitutions by recognizing freedom of speech and assembly as central to the mission of public institutions of higher education and ensuring that all persons may assemble peaceably on the campuses of those institutions for expressive activities. The bill requires an institution to ensure that the common outdoor areas of the institution's campus are deemed traditional public forums and to permit any person to engage in expressive activities in those areas freely, as long as the person's conduct is not unlawful and does not materially and substantially disrupt the institution's functioning.
Senate Bill 18 authorizes an institution to adopt a policy that imposes reasonable restrictions on the time, place, and manner of expressive activities in the applicable areas if those restrictions meet certain conditions. The bill requires each institution to adopt a policy detailing students' rights and responsibilities regarding expressive activities at the institution and sets out criteria for the policy. The bill prohibits certain discriminatory actions by an institution against a student organization on the basis of a political, religious, philosophical, ideological, or academic viewpoint expressed by the organization or on the basis of any expressive activities of the organization. The bill sets out certain limitations on the factors an institution may consider in determining whether to approve a speaker to speak on campus or in determining the amount of a fee to be charged for use of the institution's facilities for purposes of engaging in expressive activities.
Senate Bill 18 requires each institution to make its applicable policies available to students and employees of the institution by specified distribution methods and to develop materials, programs, and procedures to ensure that the employees responsible for educating or disciplining students understand the bill's requirements and associated policies adopted by the institution. The bill establishes a one‑time reporting requirement for each institution regarding its implementation of the bill's provisions.