By Yarbrough                                          H.B. No. 2200
       74R7274 MRB-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the exemption of certain training programs for plumbers
    1-3  from the regulations applicable to proprietary schools.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 32.12(a), Education Code, is amended to
    1-6  read as follows:
    1-7        (a)  The following schools or educational institutions are
    1-8  specifically exempt from the provisions of this chapter and are not
    1-9  within the definition of "proprietary school":
   1-10              (1)  a school or educational institution supported by
   1-11  taxation from either a local or State source;
   1-12              (2)  nonprofit schools owned, controlled, operated, and
   1-13  conducted by bona fide religious, denominational, eleemosynary, or
   1-14  similar public institutions exempt from property taxation under the
   1-15  laws of this State, but such schools may choose to apply for a
   1-16  certificate of approval hereunder, and upon approval and issuance,
   1-17  shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter as determined by
   1-18  the administrator;
   1-19              (3)  a school or training program which offers
   1-20  instruction of purely avocational or recreational subjects as
   1-21  determined by the administrator;
   1-22              (4)  a course or courses of instruction or study
   1-23  sponsored by an employer for the training and preparation of its
   1-24  own employees, and for which no tuition fee is charged to the
    2-1  student;
    2-2              (5)  a course or courses of study or instruction
    2-3  sponsored by a recognized trade, business, or professional
    2-4  organization for the instruction of the members of the organization
    2-5  with a closed membership;
    2-6              (6)  private colleges or universities which award a
    2-7  recognized baccalaureate, or higher degree, and which maintain and
    2-8  operate educational programs for which a majority of the credits
    2-9  given are transferable to a college, junior college, or university
   2-10  supported entirely or partly by taxation from either a local or
   2-11  State source;
   2-12              (7)  a school or course which is otherwise regulated
   2-13  and approved under and pursuant to any other law or rulemaking
   2-14  process of the State or approved for continuing education credit by
   2-15  an organization that accredits courses for the maintenance of a
   2-16  license, except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section;
   2-17              (8)  aviation schools or instructors approved by and
   2-18  under the supervision of the Federal Aviation Administration;
   2-19              (9)  a school which offers intensive review courses
   2-20  designed to prepare students for certified public accountancy
   2-21  tests, public accountancy tests, law school aptitude tests, bar
   2-22  examinations, or medical college admissions tests;
   2-23              (10)  a private school offering primary or secondary
   2-24  education, which may include kindergarten or prekindergarten
   2-25  program, and which satisfies the compulsory attendance requirements
   2-26  of Section 21.032 of this code pursuant to Section 21.033(a)(1) of
   2-27  this code; and
    3-1              (11)  a course or courses of instruction by bona fide:
    3-2                    (A)  electrical trade associations for the
    3-3  purpose of preparing students for electrical tests required for
    3-4  licensing and for the purpose of providing continuing education to
    3-5  students for the renewal of electrical licenses; and
    3-6                    (B)  plumbing trade associations for the purpose
    3-7  of preparing students for plumbing tests and programs required for
    3-8  licensing, certification, or endorsement and for the purpose of
    3-9  providing continuing education programs approved by the Texas State
   3-10  Board of Plumbing Examiners.
   3-11        SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
   3-12  to a course of instruction that begins on or after the effective
   3-13  date of this  Act.  A course of instruction that begins before the
   3-14  effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed
   3-15  before that date, and the former law is continued in effect for
   3-16  this purpose.
   3-17        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   3-18        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-19  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-20  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-21  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-22  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.