Honorable Dennis Bonnen, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives
FROM:
John McGeady, Assistant Director Sarah Keyton, Assistant Director Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB766 by Huberty (Relating to exemptions for disabled peace officers and fire fighters from payment of tuition and fees at public institutions of higher education.), As Passed 2nd House
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill amends statute as it relates to tuition and fee exemptions for disabled peace officers at public institutions of higher education by making the exemption mandatory instead of permissive. The bill would also allow disabled fire fighters to participate in the exemption. The bill would also amend the Education Code relating to exemptions of tuition and laboratory fees at public institutions of higher education for certain paramedics. The bill would expand the existing exemption requirement for a firefighter taking courses in fire science to include paramedics. Under provisions of the bill, the governing board of an institution of higher education may not provide these exemptions to students enrolled in a specific course in a number that exceeds 20 percent of the maximum student enrollment designated by the institution for that course.
The bill would primarily impact designated tuition and fees, which are classified as institutional funds, and therefore would not impact the state. The bill would also impact laboratory fees, student teaching fees, and special course fees, that are accounted as educational and general income, or statutory tuition in the General Appropriations Act. Higher Education System Offices reported that the impact in foregone revenues from expanding this exemption would not be significant.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 758 Texas State University System, 768 Texas Tech University System Administration, 769 University of North Texas System Administration, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board, 783 University of Houston System Administration