By Maxey                                              H.B. No. 1932
         76R12515 KEL-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the student union and student union fee at The
 1-3     University of Texas at Austin.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 54.530(a), Education Code, is amended to
 1-6     read as follows:
 1-7           (a)  The board of regents of The University of Texas System
 1-8     may levy and collect from each student a compulsory fee for
 1-9     operating, maintaining, improving, equipping, and/or constructing
1-10     additions to the existing Texas Union building near Guadalupe
1-11     Street.  Unless the board increases the amount as provided by this
1-12     subsection, the fee may not [to] exceed $33 for each regular
1-13     semester and $16.50 for each term of each summer session.  The
1-14     money collected from the[, with such] fees shall [to] be deposited
1-15     to an account known as the Texas Union Fee Account.  With the
1-16     concurrence of the Student Fees Advisory Committee, the board may
1-17     increase the amount of the [; this] fee [may be raised to an amount
1-18     not to exceed $40 for each regular semester and $20 for each term
1-19     of each summer session] if that increase in the fee is approved by
1-20     a majority vote of those students participating in a general
1-21     election called for that purpose.  However, the board may not
1-22     increase the amount of the fee to an amount that is more than $40
1-23     for each regular semester and $20 for each term of each summer
1-24     session.  The activities of said Texas Union building financed in
 2-1     whole or in part by the [this] fee shall be limited to those
 2-2     activities in which the entire student body is eligible to
 2-3     participate, and in no event shall any of the activities so
 2-4     financed be held outside of the territorial limits of the campus of
 2-5     The University of Texas at Austin.
 2-6           SECTION 2.  (a)  A review panel consisting of three members
 2-7     appointed under this section and financed by the office of the vice
 2-8     president of student affairs at The University of Texas at Austin
 2-9     shall conduct an external review of the operation of the Texas
2-10     Union to ensure the appropriate use of the student union fee
2-11     imposed by Section 54.530, Education Code.  The review shall
2-12     include an examination of management decisions and other areas
2-13     relating to the operation of the Texas Union as necessary.  Not
2-14     later than May 1, 2000, the review panel shall make to the board of
2-15     directors of the Texas Union building related recommendations on
2-16     ways to improve the facilities and operations of the Texas Union.
2-17           (b)  The vice president of student affairs shall compile a
2-18     list of seven proposed members of the review panel, which must
2-19     consist of current or former student union directors, associate
2-20     student union directors, or college or university vice presidents
2-21     with student union experience.  A proposed member of the review
2-22     panel may have acquired the necessary union experience at a college
2-23     or university in or outside of this state.  The vice president of
2-24     student affairs may not serve on the review panel.
2-25           (c)  The vice president of student affairs shall submit the
2-26     list of seven proposed members to a student committee, which must
2-27     consist of five representatives to the student assembly of The
 3-1     University of Texas at Austin, to be selected by the student
 3-2     assembly.  The student committee shall select three persons from
 3-3     the list submitted by the vice president of student affairs to
 3-4     constitute the review panel.  If a vacancy occurs on the review
 3-5     panel, the student committee shall select another person from the
 3-6     list to fill the vacant position.  The selections of the student
 3-7     committee, including any replacement selections, are final, unless
 3-8     a proposed member is unable to serve, in which event the student
 3-9     committee shall select a replacement.
3-10           (d)  If, at any time, the list of proposed members of the
3-11     review panel is less than five, the vice president of student
3-12     affairs shall submit to the student committee additional names as
3-13     necessary to restore the list of proposed members to seven.
3-14           (e)  This section expires January 1, 2001.
3-15           SECTION 3.  Section 1 of this Act applies beginning with the
3-16     1999 fall semester and applies to fees charged on or after that
3-17     date.  Fees charged before the 1999 fall semester are governed by
3-18     the law in effect at the time the fees are charged, and that law is
3-19     continued in effect for that purpose.
3-20           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-21     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-22     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-23     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-24     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-25     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-26     passage, and it is so enacted.