88R17139 JTZ-F
 
  By: Ashby, Rogers H.B. No. 2158
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to tuition and fee exemptions for firefighters enrolled in
  certain courses at public institutions of higher education.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 54.353(a), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  The governing board of an institution of higher
  education shall exempt from the payment of tuition and laboratory
  fees any student enrolled in one or more courses offered as part of
  a fire science curriculum who:
               (1)  is employed as a firefighter by a political
  subdivision of this state; or
               (2)  is a member in good standing of a volunteer fire
  department that is registered with the Texas A&M Forest Service and
  responds to 9-1-1 emergency calls in a designated area [currently,
  and has been for at least one year, an active member of an organized
  volunteer fire department participating in the Texas Emergency
  Services Retirement System or a retirement system established under
  the Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e,
  Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)] and who:
                     (A)  attends at least 20 hours of annual training
  approved by the State Firefighters' and Fire Marshals' Association
  of Texas;
                     (B)  attends or provides support services for at
  least 25 percent of the department's emergencies in a calendar
  year; and
                     (C)  holds:
                           (i) [(A)]  an Accredited Advanced level of
  certification, or an equivalent successor certification, under the
  State Firefighters' [Firemen's] and Fire Marshals' Association of
  Texas volunteer certification program; or
                           (ii) [(B)]  Phase V (Firefighter II)
  certification, or an equivalent successor certification, under the
  Texas Commission on Fire Protection's voluntary certification
  program under Section 419.071, Government Code.
         SECTION 2.  Section 54.353(a), Education Code, as amended by
  this Act, applies beginning with tuition and laboratory fees
  charged for the 2023 fall semester. Tuition and laboratory fees
  charged for an academic period before that semester are covered by
  the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act,
  and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  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, 2023.