By Carona                                              H.B. No. 798
       74R1143 PB-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to an exemption from regulation as a proprietary school
    1-3  for certain nonprofit associations that conduct training programs
    1-4  regarding air conditioning and refrigeration contracting.
    1-5        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-6        SECTION 1.  Section 32.12(a), Education Code, is amended to
    1-7  read as follows:
    1-8        (a)  The following schools or educational institutions are
    1-9  specifically exempt from the provisions of this chapter and are not
   1-10  within the definition of "proprietary school":
   1-11              (1)  a school or educational institution supported by
   1-12  taxation from either a local or State source;
   1-13              (2)  nonprofit schools owned, controlled, operated, and
   1-14  conducted by bona fide religious, denominational, eleemosynary, or
   1-15  similar public institutions exempt from property taxation under the
   1-16  laws of this State, but such schools may choose to apply for a
   1-17  certificate of approval hereunder, and upon approval and issuance,
   1-18  shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter as determined by
   1-19  the administrator;
   1-20              (3)  a school or training program which offers
   1-21  instruction of purely avocational or recreational subjects as
   1-22  determined by the administrator;
   1-23              (4)  a course or courses of instruction or study
   1-24  sponsored by an employer for the training and preparation of its
    2-1  own employees, and for which no tuition fee is charged to the
    2-2  student;
    2-3              (5)  a course or courses of study or instruction
    2-4  sponsored by a recognized trade, business, or professional
    2-5  organization for the instruction of the members of the organization
    2-6  with a closed membership;
    2-7              (6)  private colleges or universities which award a
    2-8  recognized baccalaureate, or higher degree, and which maintain and
    2-9  operate educational programs for which a majority of the credits
   2-10  given are transferable to a college, junior college, or university
   2-11  supported entirely or partly by taxation from either a local or
   2-12  State source;
   2-13              (7)  a school or course which is otherwise regulated
   2-14  and approved under and pursuant to any other law or rulemaking
   2-15  process of the State or approved for continuing education credit by
   2-16  an organization that accredits courses for the maintenance of a
   2-17  license, except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section;
   2-18              (8)  aviation schools or instructors approved by and
   2-19  under the supervision of the Federal Aviation Administration;
   2-20              (9)  a school which offers intensive review courses
   2-21  designed to prepare students for certified public accountancy
   2-22  tests, public accountancy tests, law school aptitude tests, bar
   2-23  examinations, or medical college admissions tests;
   2-24              (10)  a private school offering primary or secondary
   2-25  education, which may include kindergarten or prekindergarten
   2-26  program, and which satisfies the compulsory attendance requirements
   2-27  of Section 21.032 of this code pursuant to Section 21.033(a)(1) of
    3-1  this code; <and>
    3-2              (11)  a course or courses of instruction by bona fide
    3-3  electrical trade associations for the purpose of preparing students
    3-4  for electrical tests required for licensing and for the purpose of
    3-5  providing continuing education to students for the renewal of
    3-6  electrical licenses; and
    3-7              (12)  a course or training program conducted by a
    3-8  nonprofit association of air conditioning and refrigeration
    3-9  contractors to provide instruction for technical, business, or
   3-10  license examination preparation programs relating to air
   3-11  conditioning and refrigeration contracting, as that term is defined
   3-12  by the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor License Law
   3-13  (Article 8861, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
   3-14        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
   3-15  applies only to a course or training program conducted by a
   3-16  nonprofit association of air conditioning and refrigeration
   3-17  contractors that is offered on or after that date.  A course or
   3-18  training program offered before that date is governed by the law in
   3-19  effect on the date that the course or program is offered, and the
   3-20  former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
   3-21        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-22  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-23  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-24  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-25  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.