Aggies & Longhorns Unite Behind Green Fee
Students from Texas two biggest rival colleges joined in a single chorus at the state capitol Wednesday, calling on law makers to grant student bodies the right to create a fee for environmental services with a majority vote of the student body.
Aggie senior Amanda Grosgebauer and Longhorn senior Jacob Bintliff were among witnesses who testified before the House Committee on Higher Education’s hearing for HB 3353. The bill would allow the governing body of a campus (i.e. the Board of Regents) to implement an environmental services fee without asking permission from the legislature.
“It’s really a matter of simplifying the process,” said Representative Elliott Naishtat (D-Austin) who authored the bill. “Right now if a student starts a campaign to get a green fee on their campus, they’ll be graduated and on to other things before the process is done.”
A companion bill to Naishtat’s House Bill has been introduced by Senator Eliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso). The bill, numbered SB 2182, is expected to have its own hearing soon.
“We’re really fortunate to have support from Representative Naishtat and Senator Shapleigh,” said Bintliff before the hearing began. “But both were contacted by their constituents – Naishtat by UT Austin students, and Shapleigh by UT El Paso students. It shows they do respond to constituents.”
The hearing began in the early afternoon but went well into the evening as the committee heard testimony on bills seeking to slow or stop rising tuition costs. Ms. Grosgebauer brought with her 4 members of Texas A&M’s Environmental Issues Committee who also registered their support for the bill, but by the end of the hearing they were more than ready to get back home.
“This is really taking longer than we thought,” commented one of the young women as they sat on a bench waiting for HB 3353 to come up.
But after the testimony from Grosgebauer and Bintliff was given, all congregated outside the hearing room, excitedly congratulating one another for their success. In fact, Committee Chairman Dan Branch (R-Dallas) closed discussion on the bill commenting “…y’all were very well prepared and eloquent. You defended your representative’s bill well.”
The bill was left pending by the committee, and a vote is expected in the next several days. If the bill is voted through the next hurdle will be getting it read on the floor of the House so that it can begin the vetting process.
Now we need you to help push this legislation through! Visit our Legislative Page for new actions you can take every week to make the youth voice heard and make clean energy and a green economy a reality.
