By:  Barrientos                                       S.B. No. 1868

         Line and page numbers may not match official copy.

         Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

                                       AN ACT

 1-1     relating to the consideration of race, ethnicity, or national

 1-2     origin in certain actions and decisions of public institutions of

 1-3     higher education.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  PURPOSE.  The policies and requirements provided

 1-6     by this Act are intended to remedy the present effects of past

 1-7     discrimination by the State of Texas and its political subdivisions

 1-8     and public institutions to promote the essential, fundamental, and

 1-9     compelling interests of Texas to provide full and equal

1-10     opportunities for all Texans to participate in and enjoy the

1-11     benefits of the state's system of higher education.

1-12           SECTION 2.  UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS.  (a)  Each general

1-13     academic teaching institution, as that term is defined by Section

1-14     61.003, Education Code, may consider African American race and

1-15     Mexican American national origin as a factor in admitting

1-16     undergraduate students, granting scholarships, loans, and

1-17     fellowships to undergraduate students, recruiting and retaining

1-18     undergraduate students, and administering private and governmental

1-19     programs relating to undergraduate students.

1-20           (b)  Each year, each institution covered by this section

1-21     shall compare the proportions of African American and Mexican

 2-1     American undergraduate students at the institution to the

 2-2     proportions of African Americans and Mexican Americans graduating

 2-3     from public high school in this state, and to the extent that the

 2-4     institution's enrollment proportion is lower than the proportion of

 2-5     the persons of the same group graduating from high school, the

 2-6     institution shall continue to use African-American race or Mexican

 2-7     American national origin as a factor in admitting undergraduate

 2-8     students, granting scholarships, loans, fellowships to

 2-9     undergraduate students, and recruitment and retention of

2-10     undergraduate students for the next six years.

2-11           SECTION 3.  GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS.  (a)  Each

2-12     institution of higher education, as that term is defined by Section

2-13     61.003, Education Code, that offers a graduate or professional

2-14     degree program may consider African American race and Mexican

2-15     American national origin as a factor in admitting students to those

2-16     programs, granting scholarships, loans, and fellowships to students

2-17     enrolled in those programs, recruiting and retaining students in

2-18     those programs, and administering private and governmental programs

2-19     relating to those programs.

2-20           (b)  Each year, each institution to which this section

2-21     applies shall compare the proportions of African American and

2-22     Mexican American students enrolled in each graduate or professional

2-23     degree program to the proportions of African Americans and Mexican

2-24     Americans receiving baccalaureate degrees from public institutions

2-25     of higher education of this state, and to the extent that the

 3-1     graduate or professional degree program enrollment proportion is

 3-2     lower than the proportion of persons of the same group receiving

 3-3     baccalaureate degrees, the institution shall use African-American

 3-4     race or Mexican American national origin as a factor in admitting

 3-5     student to the program, granting scholarships, loans, and

 3-6     fellowships to students in the program, and recruitment and

 3-7     retention for the program for the next six years.

 3-8           SECTION 4.  ANNUAL REVIEW AND REPORTS.  (a)  Each public

 3-9     institution of higher education that uses race or national origin

3-10     as a factor as provided by this Act shall apply the same criteria

3-11     to all students, using the same committees and same waiting lists

3-12     and shall minimize harm to any third parties.

3-13           (b)  Every year, each public institution of higher education

3-14     to which this Act applies shall evaluate its programs developed

3-15     under this section to determine their effectiveness, the

3-16     availability of equally or more effective alternatives, and the

3-17     harm if any to third parties, and shall report on these matters to

3-18     the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of

3-19     representatives, the chair of the legislative committee of each

3-20     house of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher

3-21     education, and to appropriate state agencies.

3-22           SECTION 5.  EMERGENCY.  The importance of this legislation

3-23     and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

3-24     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

3-25     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 4-1     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.