81R3151 KJM-D
By: Gallego H.B. No. 812
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of
higher education for the spouses of certain military personnel.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.203, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-2) to read as
follows:
(b) The exemptions provided for in Subsection (a) [of this
section] also apply [and inure] to [the benefit of]:
(1) the children of a member [members] of the armed
forces of the United States:
(A) who was [are or were] killed in action;
(B) who [die or] died while in service;
(C) who is [are] missing in action;
(D) whose death is documented to be directly
caused by illness or injury connected with service in the armed
forces of the United States; or
(E) who became totally disabled for purposes of
employability according to the disability ratings of the Department
of Veterans Affairs as a result of a service-related injury; and
(2) the [orphans or] children and the current or
surviving spouse of a member [members] of the Texas National Guard
and the Texas Air National Guard who:
(A) was [were] killed since January 1, 1946,
while on active duty either in the service of this [their] state or
the United States; or
(B) is [are] totally disabled for purposes of
employability according to the disability ratings of the Department
of Veterans Affairs, regardless of whether the member is [members
are] eligible to receive disability benefits from the department,
as a result of a service-related injury suffered since January 1,
1946, while on active duty either in the service of this state or
the United States.
(b-2) The eligibility of a spouse under Subsection (b) for
an exemption provided for in Subsection (a) expires on the earlier
of:
(1) the date the spouse remarries; or
(2) the 10th anniversary of:
(A) the date of the death of the member of
the Texas National Guard or the Texas Air National Guard, as
applicable; or
(B) the date the member was initially
determined to be totally disabled as described by Subsection
(b)(2)(B).
SECTION 2. Section 54.203, Education Code, as amended by
this Act, applies beginning with tuition and other fees charged for
the first term or semester that begins after the effective date of
this Act, but not earlier than the 2009 fall semester. Tuition and
other fees charged for an academic period before that term or
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 3. 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, 2009.