By: Springer  S.B. No. 567
         (In the Senate - Filed January 23, 2023; February 17, 2023,
  read first time and referred to Subcommittee on Higher Education;
  April 17, 2023, reported favorably from Committee on Education by
  the following vote:  Yeas 11, Nays 0; April 17, 2023, sent to
  printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to firefighters enrolled in fire science courses.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 54.353, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 54.353. FIREFIGHTERS ENROLLED IN FIRE SCIENCE
  COURSES.  (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 in a volunteer
  firefighter department, registered with Texas Forest Service and
  providing 911 service to a designated area [is 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: [holds:]
                     (A)  attends at least 20 hours of annual training;
                     (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 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.
         (b)  An exemption provided under this section does not apply
  to deposits that 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.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
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