1-1     By:  Luna, Wentworth, Madla                            S.B. No. 850

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 27, 1997; March 5, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Finance; March 25, 1997,

 1-4     reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 13, Nays 0;

 1-5     March 25, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to the student union building fees at The University of

 1-9     Texas at San Antonio.

1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 54.532, Education Code, is amended to

1-12     read as follows:

1-13           Sec. 54.532.  STUDENT UNION BUILDING FEES; THE UNIVERSITY OF

1-14     TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO.  (a)  The board of regents of The University

1-15     of Texas System may levy a student union fee of not less than $20

1-16     or more than $75 for each semester or summer session, assessed in

1-17     proportion to the number of credit hours for which a student

1-18     registers, [not to exceed $30 per student for each regular semester

1-19     and not to exceed $15 per student for each term of the summer

1-20     session,] for the sole purpose of financing, [constructing,]

1-21     operating, maintaining, and improving a student union building for

1-22     The University of Texas at San Antonio.  This fee may be levied in

1-23     addition to any other use or service fee.  [Furthermore, the fee

1-24     may be levied only upon an affirmative vote of a majority of the

1-25     student body voting of The University of Texas at San Antonio.]

1-26           (b)  The fees collected under Subsection (a) of this section

1-27     shall be deposited to an account known as The University of Texas

1-28     at San Antonio University Center Fee Account and shall be placed

1-29     under the control of and subject to the order of the university

1-30     center advisory committee.  The committee shall annually submit to

1-31     the president of The University of Texas at San Antonio a complete

1-32     and itemized budget to be accompanied by a full and complete report

1-33     of all activities conducted during the past year and all

1-34     expenditures made incident to those activities.  The president

1-35     shall submit the budget to the board of regents as part of the

1-36     institutional budget.  The board of regents shall make such changes

1-37     in the budget as it deems necessary before approving the budget[,

1-38     but only after a student referendum has been called on the issue of

1-39     increase in the fee, and the issue has been approved by a majority

1-40     of the students voting in the election].  The board shall then levy

1-41     the fees, within the limits fixed in this section, in such amounts

1-42     as will be sufficient to meet the budgetary needs of the student

1-43     union building.

1-44           (c)  The board may not increase the amount of the student

1-45     union fee by more than 10 percent in any academic year unless the

1-46     amount of the increase is approved by a majority of the students

1-47     voting in an election held for that purpose or by a majority of the

1-48     student government of the institution.

1-49           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies

1-50     only to a fee imposed for a semester or summer session that begins

1-51     on or after the effective date of this Act.

1-52           (b)  Notwithstanding Section 54.532, Education Code, as

1-53     amended by this Act, the maximum amount of the student union fee

1-54     per student under that section for the 1997 fall semester is $44.

1-55           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-56     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-57     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-58     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-59     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

1-60     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

1-61     passage, and it is so enacted.

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