S.B. No. 297
AN ACT
relating to resident tuition rates and fees at public institutions
of higher education for certain veterans and servicemembers and
their spouses and children.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.058, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (k) and (l) to read as follows:
(k) A person is entitled to pay tuition and fees at an
institution of higher education at the rates provided for Texas
residents without regard to the length of time the person has
resided in this state if the person files with the institution at
which the person intends to register a letter of intent to establish
residence in this state and resides in this state while enrolled in
the institution and the person:
(1) is eligible for benefits under the federal
Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (38 U.S.C.
Section 3301 et seq.) or any other federal law authorizing
educational benefits for veterans;
(2) is the spouse of a person described by Subdivision
(1); or
(3) is a child of a person described by Subdivision (1)
who is 25 years of age or younger on the first day of the semester or
other academic term for which the person is registering, except
that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule shall
prescribe procedures by which a person who suffered from a severe
illness or other debilitating condition that affected the person's
ability to use the benefit provided by this subsection before
reaching that age may be granted additional time to use the benefit
corresponding to the time the person was unable to use the benefit
because of the illness or condition.
(l) In this section, "child" includes a stepchild.
SECTION 2. Section 54.203, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b-2) to read as follows:
(b-2) The governing board of an institution of higher
education shall exempt from the payment of resident tuition at the
institution a dependent child, including a stepchild, 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 subchapter,
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. In its appropriations to institutions of higher education,
the legislature shall provide sufficient funds to cover the full
costs of the exemptions provided by this subsection.
SECTION 3. Subsection (k), Section 54.058, Education Code,
as added by this Act, applies beginning with tuition and other fees
charged for the 2009 fall semester. Tuition and other fees charged
for an academic period before that 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 4. Subsection (b-2), Section 54.203, Education
Code, as added by this Act, applies beginning with tuition charged
for the 2009 fall semester. Tuition charged for an academic period
before that semester is 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. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall adopt the rules required by Subdivision (3), Subsection (k),
Section 54.058, Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as
practicable after this Act takes effect. For that purpose, the
coordinating board may adopt the initial 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, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 297 passed the Senate on
March 24, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendments on June 1, 2009, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 297 passed the House, with
amendments, on April 8, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 148,
Nays 0, one present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor