HBA-MPM C.S.S.B. 746 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.B. 746
By: Shapleigh
Higher Education
5/6/1999
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law authorizes The University of Texas System to levy a student
union fee not to exceed $30 per student for each regular semester and $15
per student for each term of the summer session for purposes of maintaining
and operating a student union building at The University of Texas at El
Paso (UTEP).  The summer program has since changed and is now one "long"
summer session.  C.S.S.B. 746 increases the maximum student union fee for
summer sessions exceeding six weeks to $30, and continues to charge a
maximum $15 fee for students enrolled in a summer session of less than six
weeks.   This bill authorizes the total of all compulsory student services
fees that may be collected from a student at the University of Texas at El
Paso to be increased to an amount not exceeding $250, if approved by a
majority vote of students participating in a general election called for
that purpose.  The bill also provides that approval at the election of this
fee increase does not affect the application of Section 54.503(f),
Education Code, to an increase in the total fees actually charged from one
year to the next. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 54.503(b), Education Code, by authorizing the
total of all compulsory student services fees that may be collected from a
student at the University of Texas at El Paso to be increased to an amount
not exceeding $250, if approved by a majority vote of students
participating in a general election called for that purpose.  Provides that
approval at the election of this fee increase does not affect the
application of Subsection (f) to an increase in the total fees actually
charged from one year to the next. 

Subsection (f) states that if, in an academic year, the total compulsory
fee charged under this section is more than 10 percent higher than the
compulsory fee charged for the previous academic year, the increase does
not take effect unless the increase is approved by a majority vote of the
students voting in an election held for that purpose or by a majority vote
of the student government at the institution. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 54.535(a), Education Code, to authorize the
board of regents of The University of Texas System to levy a student union
fee not to exceed $30 for a summer session of six weeks or more, in
addition to each regular semester, and not to exceed $15 for a summer
session of less than six weeks, rather than for each term of the summer
session.  Makes conforming changes.  

SECTION 3.Emergency clause.
  Effective date: upon passage.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.S.B. 746 differs from the original bill by adding new SECTION 1, which
amends Section 54.503(b), Education Code.  Please see the
Section-by-Section Analysis of this document. 

SECTIONS 2 and 3 of the substitute are redesignated from SECTIONS 1 and 2
of the original.