Bill Text: TX SB447 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the protection of expressive activities at public institutions of higher education.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-14 - Referred to State Affairs [SB447 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-SB447-Introduced.html
| 86R4757 KJE-D | ||
| By: Watson | S.B. No. 447 | |
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| relating to the protection of expressive activities at public | ||
| institutions of higher education. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Section 51.9315 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 51.9315. PROTECTED EXPRESSION ON CAMPUS. (a) In this | ||
| section: | ||
| (1) "Expressive activities" means any speech or | ||
| expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment to the United | ||
| States Constitution or Section 8, Article I, Texas Constitution, | ||
| and includes assemblies, protests, speeches, the distribution of | ||
| written material, the carrying of signs, and the circulation of | ||
| petitions. | ||
| (2) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning | ||
| assigned by Section 61.003. | ||
| (b) An institution of higher education may not: | ||
| (1) designate any area on campus as a free speech zone | ||
| or otherwise create policies implying that its students' expressive | ||
| activities are restricted to particular areas of campus; or | ||
| (2) restrict the right of students to engage in | ||
| expression in a traditional public forum. | ||
| (c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), an institution of | ||
| higher education may adopt a policy that imposes reasonable | ||
| restrictions on the time, place, and manner of expressive | ||
| activities in the common outdoor areas of the institution's campus | ||
| if those restrictions: | ||
| (1) are narrowly tailored to serve a significant | ||
| institutional interest; | ||
| (2) employ clear, published, content-neutral, and | ||
| viewpoint-neutral criteria; and | ||
| (3) provide for ample alternative means of expression. | ||
| (d) Each institution of higher education shall adopt a | ||
| policy that: | ||
| (1) prohibits preventing a student from engaging in | ||
| expressive activities because of the content or message of the | ||
| expressive activities; | ||
| (2) prohibits any institution official or employee | ||
| from preventing or disinviting a speaker from speaking at the | ||
| institution for any reason other than a reasonable concern | ||
| regarding a legitimate risk to campus safety; and | ||
| (3) establishes disciplinary sanctions for students | ||
| or employees who persist in unduly interfering with the expressive | ||
| activities of others on campus after being asked by an institution | ||
| official or employee to stop the interference. | ||
| SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. | ||
