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Senate Bill 2182 |
Senate Author: Shapleigh |
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Effective: 9-1-09 |
House Sponsor: Naishtat |
Senate Bill 2182 amends the Education Code to authorize the governing board of an institution of higher education to charge each student enrolled at the institution an environmental service fee to provide environmental improvements at the institution or to provide matching funds for grants to obtain such environmental improvements. The bill caps the amount of the fee at $5 for each regular semester or summer term of more than six weeks or $2.50 for each summer session of six weeks or less. The bill makes the initial levy and any increase of the fee subject to approval by a majority vote of the students voting at an election held for that purpose and prohibits an increase that would result in a fee exceeding $10 for each regular semester or summer term of more than six weeks or $5 for each summer session of six weeks or less. The bill prohibits an institution that imposes the fee from using the revenue generated by the fee to reduce or replace other money allocated by the institution for environmental projects and requires any fee revenue that exceeds the amount necessary to cover current operating expenses for environmental services and any interest generated from that revenue to be used only for environmental improvements. The bill establishes that the fee is not considered in determining the maximum amount of student services fees that an institution of higher education may charge. The bill prohibits the fee from being charged after the fifth academic year in which the fee is first charged unless, before the end of that academic year, the institution has issued bonds payable from the fee, in which event the fee may not be charged after the academic year in which all such bonds, including refunding bonds for those bonds, have been fully paid.