BILL ANALYSIS C.S.S.B. 1320 By: Barrientos Education 03-27-95 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND In 1990, the University of Texas System's board of regents approved the construction of a statue of Martin Luther King, Jr., under the condition that students would finance the statue themselves. After a Students' Association election, the majority of students voted in favor of a referendum which establishes a $1 dedicated fee per student enrolled each semester for four years to purchase a statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. PURPOSE As proposed, C.S.S.B. 1320 authorizes the board of regents of the University of Texas System' to charge and collect a fee to be used for funding construction of a statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 54E, Education Code, by adding Section 54.5133, as follows: Sec. 54.5133. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. STATUE FEE; THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN. (a) Authorizes the board of regents (board) of the University of Texas System (system) to charge and collect from students registered at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) a fee of $1 for any semester or summer session. Authorizes the fee to be used for funding the construction of a Martin Luther King, Jr. statue on the east mall of the campus of UT-Austin, and to establish Martin Luther King, Jr. student scholarships. (b) Requires any funds raised in excess of the cost of the construction of the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue to be used to establish Martin Luther King, Jr. scholarships. (c) Requires the fees collected to be deposited into the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue fee account for the purposes outlined in Subsections (a) and (b) above. SECTION 2. Makes application of this Act begin with the fall semester, 1995. Provides that the fee authorized by this Act expires on August 31, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.