Bill Text: TX HB2688 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Engrossed


Bill Title: Relating to tuition and scholarships and fee exemptions for certain members of the armed services and certain military veterans attending institutions of higher education.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-05-18 - Left pending in committee [HB2688 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB2688-Engrossed.html
  82R25234 KYF-D
 
  By: Lucio III, Patrick H.B. No. 2688
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to tuition and scholarships and fee exemptions for certain
  members of the armed services and certain military veterans
  attending institutions of higher education.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 54.203, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (a-3) to read as follows:
         (a-3)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(4), a person who meets
  the requirements of Subsection (a)(4), other than the requirement
  that the person must have served on active military duty for more
  than the stated number of days, is entitled to the exemption
  provided by Subsection (a)(4) regardless of the length of the
  member's active military duty if the person was a member of the
  Texas National Guard or the Texas Air National Guard who was
  assigned to a theater of combat operation with the armed forces of
  the United States.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
  Subchapter S to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER S. ASSISTANCE FOR TUITION AND FEES FOR MEMBERS
  OF TEXAS STATE GUARD
         Sec. 56.501.  PURPOSE. Because the Texas State Guard is the
  state's only organized, trained, and equipped military force under
  the direction of the governor available to respond to natural and
  man-made disasters, assistance for tuition and mandatory fees is
  provided under this subchapter to eligible members of the Texas
  State Guard to encourage voluntary membership, to improve the
  education level of its members, to diversify the composition of the
  forces, and to enhance the state's workforce.
         Sec. 56.502.  EXEMPTION. An institution of higher education
  shall exempt an eligible person from the payment of tuition and
  mandatory fees for the semester credit hours for which the person
  enrolls, not to exceed a total of 120 semester credit hours.  If the
  person is not charged tuition at the rate provided for other Texas
  residents, the amount of the exemption may not exceed the amount of
  tuition the person would be charged as a Texas resident for the
  number of semester credit hours for which the person enrolls, not to
  exceed 120 semester credit hours.
         Sec. 56.503.  ELIGIBILITY.  To be eligible to receive an
  exemption under this subchapter, a person must:
               (1)  be a member in good standing for at least one
  calendar year, as certified by the adjutant general, of the Texas
  State Guard; and
               (2)  commit to serve the Texas State Guard as follows:
                     (A)  for an undergraduate program, eight years,
  four years of which must be served while enrolled in an institution
  of higher education and four years of which must be served following
  the period of enrollment; and
                     (B)  for a graduate program, five years, two years
  of which must be served while enrolled in an institution of higher
  education and three years of which must be served following the
  period of enrollment.
         Sec. 56.504.  REPAYMENT. The Texas Higher Education
  Coordinating Board by rule shall require a person who does not
  fulfill the commitment to serve in the Texas State Guard under
  Section 56.503(2) to repay the amount of all tuition and mandatory
  fees for which the person received an exemption under this
  subchapter to the institution of higher education from which the
  person received the exemption.
         Sec. 56.505.  RULES. The Texas Higher Education
  Coordinating Board shall adopt rules as necessary for the
  administration of this subchapter.
         SECTION 3.  Section 61.9774(b), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (b)  The board by rule shall provide that:
               (1)  any amount paid to a student by a branch of the
  armed services of the United States during an academic year for
  which the student receives a scholarship under this subchapter
  because the student is under a contract with that branch shall be
  deducted from the amount of the scholarship awarded to the student
  for that academic year; and
               (2)  after a deduction under Subdivision (1) is made,
  the student is entitled to the remaining amount of the scholarship
  awarded to the student under this subchapter for that academic
  year, not to exceed the student's total cost of attendance for that
  academic year at the public or private institution of higher
  education in which the student is enrolled.
         SECTION 4.  The following provisions are repealed:
               (1)  Section 54.2155, Education Code; and
               (2)  Section 431.090, Government Code.
         SECTION 5.  (a)  Section 54.203(a-3), Education Code, as
  added by this Act, applies beginning with tuition and fees at a
  public institution of higher education for the 2011 fall semester.
  Tuition and fees for a term or semester before the 2011 fall
  semester are covered by the law in effect immediately before the
  effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
  effect for that purpose.
         (b)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
  adopt rules for the administration of Subchapter S, Chapter 56,
  Education Code, as added by this Act, and Section 61.9774(b),
  Education Code, as amended by this Act, as soon as practicable after
  this Act takes effect.  For that purpose, the coordinating board may
  adopt the rules in the manner provided by law for emergency rules.
         SECTION 6.  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, 2011.
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