H.B. No. 2013

	AN ACT
	relating to tuition and laboratory fee exemptions at public
	institutions of higher education for certain volunteer
	firefighters enrolled in fire science courses.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 54.208, Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 54.208.  FIREFIGHTERS  [FIREMEN] ENROLLED IN FIRE
	SCIENCE COURSES. (a)  The governing board of an institution of
	higher education [boards of the state institutions of collegiate
	rank supported in whole or in part by public funds] 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)  [person who] is employed as a firefighter
	[fireman] by a [any] political subdivision of this [the] state; or
	(2)  is currently, and has been for at least one year,
	an active member of an organized volunteer fire department in this
	state, as defined by the fire fighters' pension commissioner, who
	holds:
	(A)  an Accredited Advanced level of
	certification, or an equivalent successor certification, under the
	State Firemen's and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas volunteer
	certification program; or
	(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 [and who enrolls in a course or courses
	offered as part of a fire science curriculum].
	(b)  An [The] exemption provided under this section does not
	apply to deposits that [which] may be required in the nature of
	security for the return or proper care of property loaned for the
	use of students.
	(c)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a student who for a
	semester or term at an institution of higher education receives an
	exemption under this section may continue to receive the exemption
	for a subsequent semester or term at any institution only if the
	student makes satisfactory academic progress toward a degree or
	certificate at that institution as determined by the institution
	for purposes of financial aid.
	(d)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the exemption provided
	under this section does not apply to any amount of additional
	tuition the institution elects to charge a resident undergraduate
	student under Section 54.014(a) or (f).
	(e)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the exemption provided
	under this section does not apply to any amount of tuition the
	institution charges a graduate student in excess of the amount of
	tuition charged to similarly situated graduate students because the
	student has a number of semester credit hours of doctoral work in
	excess of the applicable number provided by Section 61.059(l)(1) or
	(2).
	(f)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
	adopt:
	(1)  rules governing the granting or denial of an
	exemption under this section, including rules relating to the
	determination of a student's eligibility for an exemption; and
	(2)  a uniform listing of degree programs covered by
	the exemption under this section.
	SECTION 2.  A student who received an exemption under
	Section 54.208, Education Code, before the 2009 fall semester may
	continue to receive the exemption under the provisions of that
	section as it existed immediately before the effective date of this
	Act as long as the student remains enrolled in the same degree or
	certificate program and is otherwise eligible to continue to
	receive the exemption under that former law.
	SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act to Section
	54.208, Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and laboratory
	fees charged for the 2009 fall semester. Tuition and laboratory
	fees charged for an academic period before the 2009 fall 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 4.  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, 2009.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2013 was passed by the House on May
	11, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 125, Nays 20, 2 present, not
	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
	No. 2013 on May 29, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 138, Nays 0,
	1 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2013 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 25, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
	0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor