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.