Bill Text: TX SB560 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of higher education for certain military personnel, veterans, and dependents residing in this state.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-17 - Referred to Veteran Affairs & Military Instal [SB560 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB560-Introduced.html

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82R2991 JRJ-D
By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 560

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of
higher education for certain military personnel, veterans, and
dependents residing in this state.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.203, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (k), (l), and (m) and adding Subsections
(k-1) and (n) to read as follows:
(a) The governing board of each institution of higher
education shall exempt the following persons from the payment of
tuition, dues, fees, and other required charges, including fees for
correspondence courses but excluding general deposit fees, student
services fees, and any fees or charges for lodging, board, or
clothing, provided the person seeking the exemption currently
resides in this state and entered the service at a location in this
state, declared this state as the person's home of record in the
manner provided by the applicable military or other service, or
would have been determined to be a resident of this state for
purposes of Subchapter B at the time the person entered the service:
(1) all nurses and honorably discharged members of the
armed forces of the United States who served during the
Spanish-American War or during World War I;
(2) all nurses, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary
Corps, members of the Women's Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency
Service, and all honorably discharged members of the armed forces
of the United States who served during World War II except those who
were discharged from service because they were over the age of 38 or
because of a personal request on the part of the person that the
person be discharged from service;
(3) all honorably discharged men and women of the
armed forces of the United States who served during the national
emergency which began on June 27, 1950, and which is referred to as
the Korean War; and
(4) all persons who were honorably discharged from the
armed forces of the United States after serving on active military
duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days and who served a
portion of their active duty during:
(A) the Cold War which began on the date of the
termination of the national emergency cited in Subdivision (3);
(B) the Vietnam era which began on December 21,
1961, and ended on May 7, 1975;
(C) the Grenada and Lebanon era which began on
August 24, 1982, and ended on July 31, 1984;
(D) the Panama era which began on December 20,
1989, and ended on January 21, 1990;
(E) the Persian Gulf War which began on August 2,
1990, and ends on the date thereafter prescribed by Presidential
proclamation or September 1, 1997, whichever occurs first;
(F) the national emergency by reason of certain
terrorist attacks that began on September 11, 2001; or
(G) any future national emergency declared in
accordance with federal law.
(k) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule
shall prescribe procedures to allow:
(1) a person who becomes eligible for an exemption
provided by Subsection (a) to waive the person's right to any unused
portion of the maximum number of cumulative credit hours for which
the person could receive the exemption and assign the exemption for
the unused portion of those credit hours to a child of the person;
and
(2) following the death of a person who becomes
eligible for an exemption provided by Subsection (a), the
assignment of the exemption for the unused portion of the credit
hours to a child of the person, to be made by the person's spouse or
by the conservator, guardian, custodian, or other legally
designated caretaker of the child, if the child does not otherwise
qualify for an exemption under Subsection (b).
(k-1) The procedures under Subsection (k) must [shall]
provide:
(1) the manner in which a person may waive the
exemption;
(2) the manner in which [and designate] a child may be
designated to receive the exemption;
(3) [(2)] a procedure permitting the designation of
[person to designate] a different child to receive the exemption if
the child previously designated to receive the exemption did not
use the exemption under this section for all of the assigned portion
of credit hours; and
(4) [(3)] a method of documentation to enable
institutions of higher education to determine the eligibility of
the designated child to receive the exemption.
(l) To be eligible to receive an exemption under Subsection
(k), the child must:
(1) be a student who is classified as a resident under
Subchapter B when the child enrolls in an institution of higher
education; and
(2) make satisfactory academic progress in a degree,
certificate, or continuing education program as determined by the
institution at which the child is enrolled in accordance with the
policy of the institution's financial aid department, except that
the institution may not require the child to enroll in a minimum
course load[; and
[(3) be 25 years of age or younger on the first day of
the semester or other academic term for which the exemption is
claimed, except that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
by rule shall prescribe procedures by which a child who suffered
from a severe illness or other debilitating condition that affected
the child's ability to use the exemption before reaching that age
may be granted additional time to use the exemption corresponding
to the time the child was unable to use the exemption because of the
illness or condition].
(m) For purposes of this section, a person is the child of
another person if the person is 25 years of age or younger on the
first day of the semester or other academic term for which the
exemption is claimed and:
(1) the person is the stepchild or the biological or
adopted child of the other person; or
(2) the other person claimed the person as a dependent
on a federal income tax return filed for the preceding year or will
claim the person as a dependent on a federal income tax return for
the current year.
(n) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule
shall prescribe procedures by which a child who suffered from a
severe illness or other debilitating condition that affected the
child's ability to use the exemption before reaching the age
described by Subsection (m) may be granted additional time to use
the exemption corresponding to the time the child was unable to use
the exemption because of the illness or condition.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 54.2031 to read as follows:
Sec. 54.2031. DEPENDENT CHILDREN OF RESIDENTS WHO ARE
MEMBERS OF ARMED FORCES DEPLOYED ON COMBAT DUTY. (a) In this
section:
(1) "Child" includes a stepchild or adopted child.
(2) "Dependent" means a person who:
(A) is claimed as a dependent on a federal income
tax return filed for the preceding year; or
(B) will be claimed as a dependent on a federal
income tax return filed for the current year.
(b) The governing board of an institution of higher
education shall exempt from the payment of tuition at the
institution a dependent child of a member of the armed forces of the
United States who is a resident of this state or is entitled to pay
resident tuition under this chapter, for any semester or other
academic term during which the member of the armed forces is
deployed on active duty for the purpose of engaging in a combative
military operation outside the United States.
(c) The governing board of an institution of higher
education granting an exemption under this section shall require
each applicant claiming the exemption to submit satisfactory
evidence that the applicant qualifies for the exemption.
(d) A person may not receive an exemption provided for by
this section for more than a cumulative total of 150 semester credit
hours.
(e) A person may not receive an exemption under this section
if the person is in default on a loan made or guaranteed for
educational purposes by the State of Texas.
(f) The governing board of a public junior college, public
technical institute, or public state college, as those terms are
defined by Section 61.003, may establish a fee for extraordinary
costs associated with a specific course or program and may provide
that the exemption provided for by this section does not apply to
the fee.
(g) In determining whether to admit a person to any
certificate program or any baccalaureate, graduate, postgraduate,
or professional degree program, an institution of higher education
may not consider the fact that the person is eligible for an
exemption under this section.
(h) In its appropriations to institutions of higher
education, the legislature shall, based on availability, provide
sufficient money to cover the full costs of the exemptions provided
for by this section.
(i) If sufficient money is not available to cover the full
costs to the institutions of higher education of the exemptions
provided for by this section, the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board shall prorate the funding to each institution
for purposes of this section in proportion to the total amount the
institution would otherwise be entitled to receive for purposes of
this section. Insufficient funding for purposes of this section
does not affect a student's entitlement to receive an exemption
from the payment of tuition under this section.
(j) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may adopt
rules necessary to administer this section.
SECTION 3. Section 54.203(b-2), Education Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies
beginning with tuition and fees 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.
SECTION 5. 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.