86R13100 SOS-F

By: Raney H.B. No. 3266

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to fees charged to students enrolled at component institutions of The Texas A&M University System.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 54.5032(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A student fee advisory committee is established at each component institution of The Texas A&M University System to advise the board of regents and the administration of the institution on the type, amount, and expenditure of compulsory fees for student services under Section 54.503, for student [health and] medical services under Section 54.507, for student center facilities under Section 54.521, and for recreational sports under Section 54.539.

SECTION 2. The heading to Section 54.507, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 54.507. STUDENT [GROUP HOSPITAL AND] MEDICAL SERVICES FEES; THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.

SECTION 3. Sections 54.507(a), (b), (c), and (f), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System may levy and collect from each student at any institution of higher education which is a part of The Texas A&M University System a compulsory student [group hospital and] medical services fee not to exceed $200 [$75] for each regular semester and not to exceed $100 [$25] for each term of each summer session. The compulsory student [group hospital and] medical services fee may not be levied unless the levy of the fee has been approved by a majority vote of those students at the affected institution participating in a general student election called for that purpose.

(b) In addition to the fee authorized under Subsection (a) [of this section], the Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System may levy and collect from each student registered at Prairie View A&M University a supplemental student [group hospital and] medical services fee not to exceed $30 for each regular semester and not to exceed $12.50 for each term of the summer session. The supplemental student [group hospital and] medical services fee may not be levied unless the levy of the fee has been approved by a majority vote of the students registered at Prairie View A&M University participating in a general election called for that purpose.

(c) A fee levied under this section at a component institution of The Texas A&M University System may be used only to finance, construct, operate, renovate, maintain, or improve new or existing student medical facilities or provide [hospital or other] medical services to students registered at that component institution.

(f) An election under this section must also permit the students to vote on whether student [hospital and] medical services should be provided to students at the institution by the institution or by a private entity. The vote by the students on the responsibility for provision of student [hospital and] medical services to students at the institution is not binding on the institution.

SECTION 4. Sections 54.521(a) and (e), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The board of regents of The Texas A&M University System may levy a regular, fixed student fee on each student enrolled in an educational institution within The Texas A&M University System for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, renovating, operating, maintaining, improving, adding to, replacing, financing, and equipping one or more student center facilities for the institution. The board may set fees in amounts it considers just and necessary but not to exceed $200 [$100] per student for each semester for the long session and not to exceed $100 [$50] per student for each term of the summer session, or any fractional part of a session. The activities of a student center facility that may be financed in whole or in part by the student center facility fee are limited to those activities in which the entire student body is eligible to participate. The financed activities may not be held outside the territorial limits of any educational institution within The Texas A&M University System.

(e) The amount of the fee authorized by this section may not be increased from one academic year to the next by 10 percent or more, unless the increase has been approved by a majority vote of the students at the affected institution participating in a general election called for that purpose or, if the amount of the fee increase does not exceed 10 percent, the amount of the fee increase has been approved by a majority vote of the board of regents taken at a board meeting on the increase after giving students an opportunity for public comment on the increase [except that at Tarleton State University the fee may be increased by not more than 10 percent from one academic year to the next without holding an election]. The fee may not exceed the maximum amounts provided by Subsection (a).

SECTION 5. Sections 54.507 and 54.521, Education Code, as amended by this Act, apply beginning with fees charged for the 2019-2020 academic year. A fee charged in an academic year before that academic year is covered by the law in effect before the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2019.