HBA-SEP, JLV H.B. 1814 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1814
By: Wohlgemuth
Higher Education
3/13/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

In 1975, the legislature passed legislation to preserve the integrity of
degrees granted by universities in Texas by prohibiting a person from
granting or awarding a degree on behalf of a private post-secondary
educational institution unless the institution has been issued a
certificate of authority to grant the degree by the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board (board).  The board determines accreditation for
religious post-secondary institutions in part by evaluating the degrees
held by the institution's faculty.  However, these institutions may have
different criteria for determining which professors are qualified to
prepare students to enter a ministerial field, preventing such institutions
from granting degrees.  House Bill 1814 exempts certain post-secondary
religious institutions from any regulation by an agency or political
subdivision of this state with respect to the content or character of the
educational program of the institution. 

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. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1814 amends the Education Code to provide an exemption for
certain religious institutions (institution) from any regulation by an
agency or political subdivision of this state with respect to the content
or character of the educational program of the institution.  To qualify for
an exemption, the institution must: 

_be organized as or operated by a nonprofit corporation;

_be under the direction of a stewardship board or corporate board of
directors; 

_offer degrees solely for the purpose of ministerial and religious training;

_include in the institution's course catalog a statement describing the
religious training purpose or purposes of the institution; and  

_ensure that each course for which the institution grants credit toward a
degree has a religious purpose that is described in the institution's
course catalog. 
 
The institution is required to be operated as an independent institution or
in conjunction with a local organization whose primary purpose is to
maintain and operate a church, synagogue, temple, mosque, or other place of
worship, in order to receive an exemption. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.