Bonnen Governance Bill Also Bans Certain Required Courses

The text as introduced · 1,264 words

By: Bonnen
H.B. No. 5202

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the governance of public institutions of higher

education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 51, Education Code, is

amended by adding Sections 51.3522, 51.3523, and 51.3526 to read as

follows:

Sec. 51.3522. FACULTY COUNCIL OR SENATE. (a) In this

section, "faculty council or senate" means a representative faculty

organization directly elected by the general faculty or colleges

and schools of an institution of higher education.

(b) Only the governing board of an institution of higher

education may establish or authorize the establishment of a faculty

council or senate at the institution.

(c) A faculty council or senate is advisory only. A faculty

council or senate may not:

(1) be delegated final decision-making authority on

any matter; or

(2) take action on behalf of the institution,

including approving personnel action or conducting an

investigation.

(d) Unless directed otherwise by the institution's

governing board, a faculty council or senate shall report to the

institution's president or other chief executive officer.

(e) Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to a

faculty council or senate.

Sec. 51.3523. FACULTY COUNCIL OR SENATE MEETINGS OPEN TO

PUBLIC. (a) A faculty council or senate established or authorized

in accordance with Section 51.3522 shall conduct meetings at which

a quorum is present in a manner that is open to the public and in

accordance with procedures prescribed by the president of the

institution.

(b) The procedures prescribed by the president must:

(1) provide for notice of the date, hour, place, and

subject of the meeting at least 72 hours before the meeting is

convened; and

(2) require that the notice be:

(A) posted on the Internet; and

(B) published in a student newspaper of the

institution, if an issue of the newspaper is published between the

time of the Internet posting and the time of the meeting.

(c) Any vote taken by a faculty council or senate must be

recorded and made public.

Sec. 51.3526. PROHIBITION ON REQUIRING CERTAIN COURSES.

(a) In this section:

(1) "Certificate program," "governing board," and

"institution of higher education" have the meanings assigned by

Section 61.003.

(2) "Degree program" has the meaning assigned by

Section 61.003(11) and includes, as applicable, minors or double

majors.

(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), a

governing board of an institution of higher education shall ensure

that the institution does not require, as part of a degree program

or certificate program, the completion of a course whose course

description, course overview, course objectives, or proposed

student learning outcomes do any of the following:

(1) promote the idea that racially neutral or

colorblind laws, policies, or institutions in contemporary

American society perpetuate oppression, injustice, race-based

privilege, including white supremacy or white privilege, or

inequity by failing to actively differentiate on the basis of race,

sex, or gender, except as part of a discussion regarding the

effectiveness of, or potential revision to, anti-discrimination

laws; or

(2) promote, except as permitted or required by law,

the differential treatment in contemporary American society of any

individual or group of individuals based on race or ethnicity.

(c) The governing board of an institution of higher

education may exempt in writing from the prohibition under

Subsection (b) courses required for a degree program or certificate

program whose title clearly establishes the program's course of

study as primarily focused on racial, ethnic, or gender studies,

provided that each of the following applies:

(1) a student enrolled at the institution is not

required to enroll in such a course to satisfy the requirements of

any other degree program or certificate program;

(2) courses offered or listed under such programs

shall satisfy the academic degree program requirements of only

those respective degree programs or certificate programs and shall

not be used to satisfy other degree program or certificate program

requirements beyond satisfying overall institution credit hour

graduation requirements; and

(3) the title of any currently established degree

program or certificate program is not altered or replaced to

establish an emphasis on racial, ethnic, or gender studies.

(d) Subsection (b) shall not be construed to prohibit:

(1) identifying and discussing historical movements,

ideologies or instances of ethnic, racial, or sex-based hatred or

discrimination, including, but not limited to slavery, Indian

removal, the Holocaust, or Japanese-American internment;

(2) identifying genetic predispositions,

epidemiology, or physiology in medical education or biological

sciences that does not posit race-based injustice, discrimination,

or oppression; or

(3) the identification of differences between, or bona

fide qualifications based on, biological sex that are reasonably

necessary to the normal operation of public institutions.

(e) Nothing in this section may be construed to limit any

programming explicitly required by, and limited to, the institution

of higher education's obligations to comply with state or federal

anti-discrimination law or an applicable court order.

(f) Instructional expenses associated with courses

specified in Subsection (b) shall not be funded by appropriated

funds, excluding student tuition and fee revenues.

(g) Beginning with the fiscal year beginning September 1,

2026, each institution of higher education shall include as part of

its annual report to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

as provided by Section 51.3525, Subsection (e) certification of its

compliance with this section.

SECTION 2. Section 51.354, Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 51.354. INSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY.

(a) The final decision-making authority on matters

regarding an institution of higher education's degree programs and

curricula belongs to the institution. The institution shall make

the decisions on those matters under the direction of the

institution's governing board.

(b) In addition to specific responsibilities imposed by

this code or other law, each institution of higher education has the

general responsibility to serve the public and, within the

institution's role and mission, to:

(1) transmit culture through general education;

(2) extend knowledge;

(3) teach and train students for professions;

(4) provide for scientific, engineering, medical, and

other academic research;

(5) protect intellectual exploration and academic

freedom;

(6) strive for intellectual excellence;

(7) provide educational opportunity for all who can

benefit from postsecondary education and training; and

(8) provide continuing education opportunities.

SECTION 3. Section 61.052, Education Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(d) A governing board may exclude from its comprehensive

list of courses submitted under Subsection (a) courses that were

not taught as an organized class or individual instruction for two

consecutive academic years.

SECTION 4. A faculty council or senate established or

authorized at a public institution of higher education before the

effective date of this Act is abolished on October 1, 2025, unless:

(1) the faculty council or senate was established or

authorized in accordance with Section 51.3522, Education Code, as

added by this Act; or

(2) the faculty council's or senate's continuation is

ratified by the institution's governing board before that date.

SECTION 5. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Act or

its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the

invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this

Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or

application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are declared

to be severable.

SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026

academic year.

SECTION 7. 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, 2025.