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

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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

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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.