Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB1550 Compare Versions

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1	1	81R20567 KJM-D
2	2	By: Herrero H.B. No. 1550
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1550:
4	4	By: Farias C.S.H.B. No. 1550
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the tuition and fee exemption available to certain
10	10	military personnel and their dependents and to permitting those
11	11	personnel to transfer the exemption to a child.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the "Hazlewood Legacy
14	14	Act."
15	15	SECTION 2. Section 54.203, Education Code, is amended by
16	16	amending Subsections (a), (b), (b-1), (d), and (g) and adding
17	17	Subsections (a-1), (k), (l), and (m) to read as follows:
18	18	(a) The governing board of each institution of higher
19	19	education shall exempt the following persons from the payment of
20	20	tuition, [all] dues, fees, and other required charges, including
21	21	fees for correspondence courses but excluding general deposit fees,
22	22	student services fees, and any fees or charges for lodging, board,
23	23	or clothing, provided the person [persons] seeking the exemption
24	24	[exemptions were citizens of Texas at the time they] entered the
25	25	service at a location in this state, declared this state as the
26	26	person's home of record in the manner provided by the applicable
27	27	military or other service, or would have been determined to be a
28	28	resident of this state for purposes of Subchapter B at the time the
29	29	person entered the service [services indicated and have resided in
30	30	Texas for at least the period of 12 months before the date of
31	31	registration]:
32	32	(1) all nurses and honorably discharged members of the
33	33	armed forces of the United States who served during the
34	34	Spanish-American War or during World War I;
35	35	(2) all nurses, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary
36	36	Corps, members of the Women's Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency
37	37	Service, and all honorably discharged members of the armed forces
38	38	of the United States who served during World War II except those who
39	39	were discharged from service because they were over the age of 38 or
40	40	because of a personal request on the part of the person that the
41	41	person [he] be discharged from service;
42	42	(3) all honorably discharged men and women of the
43	43	armed forces of the United States who served during the national
44	44	emergency which began on June 27, 1950, and which is referred to as
45	45	the Korean War; and
46	46	(4) all persons who were honorably discharged from the
47	47	armed forces of the United States after serving on active military
48	48	duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days and who served a
49	49	portion of their active duty during:
50	50	(A) the Cold War which began on the date of the
51	51	termination of the national emergency cited in Subdivision (3) [of
52	52	this subsection];
53	53	(B) the Vietnam era which began on December 21,
54	54	1961, and ended on May 7, 1975;
55	55	(C) the Grenada and Lebanon era which began on
56	56	August 24, 1982, and ended on July 31, 1984;
57	57	(D) the Panama era which began on December 20,
58	58	1989, and ended on January 21, 1990;
59	59	(E) the Persian Gulf War which began on August 2,
60	60	1990, and ends on the date thereafter prescribed by Presidential
61	61	proclamation or September 1, 1997, whichever occurs first;
62	62	(F) the national emergency by reason of certain
63	63	terrorist attacks that began on September 11, 2001; or
64	64	(G) any future national emergency declared in
65	65	accordance with federal law.
66	66	(a-1) A person who before the 2009-2010 academic year
67	67	received an exemption provided by Subsection (a) continues to be
68	68	eligible for the exemption provided by that subsection as that
69	69	subsection existed on January 1, 2009, subject to the other
70	70	provisions of this section other than the requirement of Subsection
71	71	(a) that the person must have entered the service at a location in
72	72	this state, declared this state as the person's home of record, or
73	73	would have been determined to be a resident of this state for
74	74	purposes of Subchapter B at the time the person entered the service.
75	75	(b) The exemptions provided for in Subsection (a) [of this
76	76	section] also apply [and inure] to [the benefit of]:
77	77	(1) the children of members of the armed forces of the
78	78	United States:
79	79	(A) who are or were killed in action;
80	80	(B) who die or died while in service;
81	81	(C) who are missing in action;
82	82	(D) whose death is documented to be directly
83	83	caused by illness or injury connected with service in the armed
84	84	forces of the United States; or
85	85	(E) who became totally disabled for purposes of
86	86	employability according to the disability ratings of the Department
87	87	of Veterans Affairs as a result of a service-related injury; and
88	88	(2) the [orphans or] children of members of the Texas
89	89	National Guard and the Texas Air National Guard who:
90	90	(A) were killed since January 1, 1946, while on
91	91	active duty either in the service of their state or the United
92	92	States; or
93	93	(B) are totally disabled for purposes of
94	94	employability according to the disability ratings of the Department
95	95	of Veterans Affairs, regardless of whether the members are eligible
96	96	to receive disability benefits from the department, as a result of a
97	97	service-related injury suffered since January 1, 1946, while on
98	98	active duty either in the service of this state or the United
99	99	States.
100	100	(b-1) To qualify for an exemption under Subsection (b), a
101	101	child [person must be a citizen of Texas and] must be classified as
102	102	a resident under Subchapter B on [have resided in the state for at
103	103	least 12 months immediately preceding] the date of the child's
104	104	[person's] registration.
105	105	(d) The governing board of each institution of higher
106	106	education granting an exemption under this section [exemptions]
107	107	shall require every applicant claiming the [benefit of an]
108	108	exemption to submit satisfactory evidence that the applicant
109	109	qualifies for [he fulfills] the exemption [necessary citizenship
110	110	and residency requirements].
111	111	(g) The governing board of a junior college district may
112	112	establish a fee for extraordinary costs associated with a specific
113	113	course or program and may provide that the exemptions provided by
114	114	this section [Subsections (a) and (b)] do not apply to this fee.
115	115	(k) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule
116	116	shall prescribe procedures to allow a person who becomes eligible
117	117	for an exemption provided by Subsection (a) to waive the person's
118	118	right to any unused portion of the maximum number of cumulative
119	119	credit hours for which the person could receive the exemption and
120	120	assign the exemption for the unused portion of those credit hours to
121	121	a child of the person. The procedures shall provide:
122	122	(1) the manner in which a person may waive the
123	123	exemption and designate a child to receive the exemption;
124	124	(2) a procedure permitting the person to designate a
125	125	different child to receive the exemption if the child previously
126	126	designated to receive the exemption did not use the exemption under
127	127	this section for all of the assigned portion of credit hours; and
128	128	(3) a method of documentation to enable institutions
129	129	of higher education to determine the eligibility of the designated
130	130	child to receive the exemption.
131	131	(l) To be eligible to receive an exemption under Subsection
132	132	(k), the child must:
133	133	(1) be a student who is classified as a resident under
134	134	Subchapter B when the child enrolls in an institution of higher
135	135	education;
136	136	(2) make satisfactory academic progress in a degree,
137	137	certificate, or continuing education program as determined by the
138	138	institution at which the child is enrolled in accordance with the
139	139	policy of the institution's financial aid department, except that
140	140	the institution may not require the child to enroll in a minimum
141	141	course load; and
142	142	(3) be 25 years of age or younger on the first day of
143	143	the semester or other academic term for which the exemption is
144	144	claimed, except that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
145	145	by rule shall prescribe procedures by which a child who suffered
146	146	from a severe illness or other debilitating condition that affected
147	147	the child's ability to use the exemption before reaching that age
148	148	may be granted additional time to use the exemption corresponding
149	149	to the time the child was unable to use the exemption because of the
150	150	illness or condition.
151	151	(m) For purposes of this section, a person is the child of
152	152	another person if:
153	153	(1) the person is the stepchild or the biological or
154	154	adopted child of the other person; or
155	155	(2) the other person claimed the person as a dependent
156	156	on a federal income tax return filed for the preceding year or will
157	157	claim the person as a dependent on a federal income tax return for
158	158	the current year.
159	159	SECTION 3. Sections 54.203(e) and (e-1), Education Code, as
160	160	amended by Chapters 443 (H.B. 125) and 1334 (S.B. 1640), Acts of the
161	161	80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, are reenacted and amended
162	162	to read as follows:
163	163	(e) The exemption from tuition, fees, and other charges
164	164	provided for by this section [in Subsection (a)] does not apply to a
165	165	person who at the time of registration is entitled to receive
166	166	educational benefits under federal legislation that may be used
167	167	only for the payment of tuition and fees if the value of those
168	168	benefits received in a semester or other term is equal to or exceeds
169	169	the value of the exemption for the same semester or other term. If
170	170	the value of federal benefits that may be used only for the payment
171	171	of tuition and fees and are received in a semester or other term
172	172	does not equal or exceed the value of the exemption for the same
173	173	semester or other term, the person is entitled to receive both those
174	174	federal benefits [the federal benefit] and the exemption in the
175	175	same semester or other term. The combined amount of the federal
176	176	benefit that may be used only for the payment of tuition and fees
177	177	plus the amount of the exemption received in a semester or other
178	178	term may not exceed the cost of tuition and fees for that semester
179	179	or other term. [A person is covered by the exemption if the
180	180	person's right to benefits under federal legislation is
181	181	extinguished at the time of the person's registration, except that
182	182	a person may not receive an exemption from fees under this section
183	183	if the person's right to benefits under federal legislation is
184	184	extinguished because the person is in default of repayment of a loan
185	185	made to the person under a federal program to provide or guarantee
186	186	loans for educational purposes.]
187	187	(e-1) A person may not receive an exemption under this
188	188	section if the person is in default on a loan made or guaranteed for
189	189	educational purposes by the State of Texas.
190	190	SECTION 4. (a) Section 54.203, Education Code, as amended
191	191	by this Act, applies beginning with tuition and other fees charged
192	192	for the 2009 fall semester. If a person who becomes eligible for an
193	193	exemption in that semester under that section has paid the tuition
194	194	and other fees for that semester to which the exemption applies, the
195	195	institution of higher education shall refund to the student the
196	196	amount of the tuition and fees paid by the person in the amount of
197	197	the exemption. Tuition and other fees charged for an academic
198	198	period before the 2009 fall semester are covered by the law in
199	199	effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
200	200	former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
201	201	(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
202	202	prescribe the procedures required by Sections 54.203(k) and (l),
203	203	Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after
204	204	the effective date of this Act. For that purpose, the coordinating
205	205	board may adopt the initial rules prescribing those procedures in
206	206	the manner provided by law for emergency rules.
207	207	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
208	208	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
209	209	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
210	210	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
211	211	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.