Leap Year Brings Tuition Hikes, Waiting Period for Abortion in Texas

AUSTIN New college tuition rates and a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions represent significant changes in Texas policy in 2004.

After months of planning, the new laws take effect Jan. 1, rather than September, like most Texas laws. Other changes include a ban on driving on dry riverbeds and how insurers score credit ratings.

The Republican-led Legislature loosened its grip on tuition-setting power to allow universities to set their own rates to offset $558 million in state cuts to higher education. Supporters appreciated the flexibility in raising more funds, while opponents said higher rates will make it more difficult for middle-class students to afford a college education.

He said the idea that college students leave home, drive to school in a BMW and live in a condo their parents bought is a fallacy. He said many students work to pay their way through school, and higher tuition will only delay their graduations.

Supporters, however, say without state funds, schools have no choice but to raise rates to cover their costs.

“The cuts we have suffered are astounding,” UT System Chancellor Mark Yudof said last fall when regents approved tuition increases at all nine campuses. “It’s clear to everybody that tuition is going to have to go up significantly.” At the University of Texas at Austin, the largest campus in the country with about 50,000 students, tuition will rise 13.2 percent this spring and 29.3 percent in the fall, based on an average of a 15-hour course load. That means students will pay about $3,075 for the spring semester and $3,510 in the fall.

The state mandated that when universities raise tuition, they set aside 15 percent for financial aid and 5 percent for a new program to reward students for finishing college quickly.

The B-On-Time program, which also starts in January, provides zero-interest loans then forgives them if a student finishes in four years — or the usual time it takes to get the degree — while keeping at least a “B” average.

Under the tuition plan approved by the UT System Board of Regents, 28 cents of every dollar from the increases at the Austin campus will be set aside for financial aid for students from low- and middle-income families.

On the social front, the “Woman’s Right to Know Act” requires the 24-hour waiting period before a woman can get an abortion to start Jan. 1.

Women are supposed to be offered state-approved materials regarding fetal development, with color photos, and risks associated with abortion and full-term pregnancy.

About 78,000 abortions are performed each year in Texas. Anti-abortion groups believe the waiting period and materials will encourage pregnant women not to have abortions.

“I have never met a woman who carried a pregnancy to term who regretted doing so,” said Elizabeth Graham of Texas Right to Life.

Graham predicted the law will create a 15 percent drop in the number of abortions in the first year.

Opponents of the measure said the waiting period will create a hardship for women in Texas, where only 14 of 254 counties have abortion providers.

It also requires that any abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy be performed at an ambulatory surgical center, typically used for outpatient surgery, or a hospital licensed to perform the procedure.

“If they can’t make it illegal, they’ll make it impossible to get,” said Kae McLaughlin, a member of the Texas Abortion and Reproduction Rights Action League.

Also taking effect Jan. 1 is a ban on operating motor vehicles in most Texas riverbeds and new rules regarding credit scoring for insurance.

For several months, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens have been notifying people they encounter on or near rivers of the change.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, said reports from TPWD indicated that heavily traveled areas of Texas rivers showed signs of erosion and decreased fish habitat and vegetation.

Game wardens, sheriff’s deputies and other officers will enforce the class C misdemeanor that can bring fines of $500 or higher. Repeat offenders could face higher fines and jail time.

Consumers will also be allowed to avoid some problems with negative credit scores when buying insurance.

Consumers can notify insurers about a serious illness or injury; a death of a spouse, child, or parent; temporary loss of employment; divorce; or identity theft and not risk a negative credit scoring. In each case, insurers may consider only credit information not affected by the event, or give the policyholder a neutral credit score.

Insurance companies also will be prohibited from denying, canceling or nonrenewing a residential or auto insurance policy solely on the basis of credit scoring.

Yes, cuts. This is why they just built a multi-million dollar fitness/recreation center on my campus and provide students with very high priced tickets to all the shows and concerts that are given here. I would've been willing to give up both of those to keep from having my tuition raised by 33% by next fall.

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