By Goolsby                                            H.B. No. 2575
         77R8648 QS-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the total amount of student services fees that may be
 1-3     charged at certain institutions of higher education.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Section 54.503(b), Education Code, is amended to
 1-6     read as follows:
 1-7           (b)  The governing board of an institution of higher
 1-8     education may charge and collect from students registered at the
 1-9     institution fees to cover the cost of student services.  The fee or
1-10     fees may be either voluntary or compulsory as determined by the
1-11     governing board.  The total of all compulsory student services fees
1-12     collected from a student at an institution of higher education
1-13     other than The University of Texas at Austin or a component
1-14     institution of the University of Houston System for any one
1-15     semester or summer session shall not exceed $250 [$150.  If
1-16     approved by a majority vote of those students participating in a
1-17     general election called for that purpose, the total of all
1-18     compulsory student services fees that may be collected from a
1-19     student at The University of Texas at El Paso may be increased to
1-20     an amount not to exceed $250. Approval at the election of an
1-21     increase in the total fees that may be collected from a student at
1-22     The University of Texas at El Paso does not affect the application
1-23     of Subsection (f) to an increase in the total fees actually charged
1-24     from one year to the next].  All compulsory student services fees
 2-1     charged and collected under this section by the governing board of
 2-2     an institution of higher education, other than a public junior
 2-3     college, shall be assessed in proportion to the number of semester
 2-4     credit hours for which a student registers.  No portion of the
 2-5     compulsory fees collected may be expended for parking facilities or
 2-6     services, except as related to providing shuttle bus services.
 2-7           SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only to
 2-8     fees imposed for a semester or term that begins on or after the
 2-9     effective date of this Act.
2-10           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
2-11     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
2-12     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
2-13     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
2-14     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.