SB0674sam001 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Edward D. Maloney

Filed: 3/12/2007

09500SB0674sam001 LRB095 08425 NHT 33223 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 674

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 674 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Student Referendum Act.

Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:

"Full-time student" means a student enrolled for at least 12 hours per term or as otherwise determined by the public institution of higher education.

"Part-time student" means a person who is enrolled for at least one-third of the number of hours required per term by the public institution of higher education for its full time students.

"President" means the president, chancellor, or other lead official of the public institution of higher education.

"Public institution of higher education" means an institution that is included in the definition of "public institutions of higher education" under the Board of Higher Education Act.

"Term of enrollment" means a semester, quarter, or trimester, as appropriate to the public institution of higher education.

Section 10. Applicability. The provisions of this Act apply to each public institution of higher education in this State.

Section 15. Student-initiated referendums.

(a) The governing body of each public institution of higher education shall establish procedures providing for student-initiated fee referendums at a date no later than December 31, 2007.

(b) Students at a public institution of higher education may, by a majority vote of the students participating in the referendum, authorize the imposition of a fee to be imposed upon each full-time and part-time student as provided in this Section.

(c) The President shall establish reasonable procedures for the submission of student-initiated fee referendums, the scheduling of referendum votes, and the collection of the fees.

(d) The petition for a student-initiated fee referendum shall clearly identify the amount of money per student that will be authorized by the referendum. The governing body of each public institution of higher education shall establish a reasonable maximum amount of dollars for the fee per full-time student per term of enrollment.

(e) The amount authorized in subsection (d) of this Section and affirmed by the student vote shall be imposed on each full-time student enrolled in the public institution of higher education at the start of the next following term of enrollment. Part-time students shall pay a pro-rata share of the fee based on the number of instructional hours registered for.

Section 20. Report. The Board of Higher Education, with the cooperation of each public institution of higher education, shall report to the Governor and General Assembly no later than 2 years following the effective date of this Act. The report shall include, at a minimum, (i) the procedures for student-initiated fee referendums at each public institution of higher education, (ii) the amount of money raised by each successful student-initiated referendum fee, and (iii) a description of the projects funded by these fees.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.".