BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 425

By: Christian

Higher Education

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Some colleges and universities in Texas have been renamed, either to reflect an affiliation with a university system or for other reasons. In certain cases, renaming has resulted in the loss of a name with historical significance and has caused an adverse reaction on the part of some aggrieved alumni. Retaining the name of an institution that honors an historical figure such as Stephen F. Austin, Sul Ross, Sam Houston, and Mirabeau Lamar preserves and upholds the history of the State of Texas, while respecting the traditions shared by alumni of the institution. 

C.S.H.B. 425 requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to maintain a registry of colleges and universities named after established historical figures and prohibits certain institutions on that registry from removing the name of a Texas historical figure from the name of the institution.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 425 amends the Education Code to require the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to maintain a registry that includes each general academic teaching institution, other than a public state college, that is named after an established Texas historical figure, as determined by the coordinating board in consultation with the Texas Historical Commission. The bill prohibits the governing board of an institution included on the registry from changing the name of the institution in a manner that removes the name of the historical figure from the name of the institution.

C.S.H.B. 425 defines "general academic teaching institution," "governing board," and "public state college."

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the act does not receive the necessary vote, the act takes effect September 1, 2009.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 425 adds provisions not in the original defining "general academic teaching institution" and "public state college" and removes a provision from the original defining "institution of higher education." The substitute differs from the original by changing references to an "institution of higher education" in the original to either a "general academic teaching institution, other than a public state college" or simply an "institution."