Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB845 Compare Versions

The same version is selected twice. Please select two different versions to compare.

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Van de Putte, Zaffirini S.B. No. 845
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the tuition and fee exemption available to certain
7	7	military personnel and their dependents and to permitting those
8	8	personnel to transfer the exemption to a child.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the "Hazlewood Legacy
11	11	Act."
12	12	SECTION 2. Section 54.203, Education Code, is amended by
13	13	amending Subsections (a), (b), (b-1), (d), and (g) and adding
14	14	Subsections (a-1), (k), (l), and (m) to read as follows:
15	15	(a) The governing board of each institution of higher
16	16	education shall exempt the following persons from the payment of
17	17	tuition, [all] dues, fees, and other required charges, including
18	18	fees for correspondence courses but excluding general deposit fees,
19	19	student services fees, and any fees or charges for lodging, board,
20	20	or clothing, provided the person [persons] seeking the exemption
21	21	[exemptions were citizens of Texas at the time they] entered the
22	22	service at a location in this state, declared this state as the
23	23	person's home of record in the manner provided by the applicable
24	24	military or other service, or would have been determined to be a
25	25	resident of this state for purposes of Subchapter B at the time the
26	26	person entered the service [services indicated and have resided in
27	27	Texas for at least the period of 12 months before the date of
28	28	registration]:
29	29	(1) all nurses and honorably discharged members of the
30	30	armed forces of the United States who served during the
31	31	Spanish-American War or during World War I;
32	32	(2) all nurses, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary
33	33	Corps, members of the Women's Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency
34	34	Service, and all honorably discharged members of the armed forces
35	35	of the United States who served during World War II except those who
36	36	were discharged from service because they were over the age of 38 or
37	37	because of a personal request on the part of the person that the
38	38	person [he] be discharged from service;
39	39	(3) all honorably discharged men and women of the
40	40	armed forces of the United States who served during the national
41	41	emergency which began on June 27, 1950, and which is referred to as
42	42	the Korean War; and
43	43	(4) all persons who were honorably discharged from the
44	44	armed forces of the United States after serving on active military
45	45	duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days and who served a
46	46	portion of their active duty during:
47	47	(A) the Cold War which began on the date of the
48	48	termination of the national emergency cited in Subdivision (3) [of
49	49	this subsection];
50	50	(B) the Vietnam era which began on December 21,
51	51	1961, and ended on May 7, 1975;
52	52	(C) the Grenada and Lebanon era which began on
53	53	August 24, 1982, and ended on July 31, 1984;
54	54	(D) the Panama era which began on December 20,
55	55	1989, and ended on January 21, 1990;
56	56	(E) the Persian Gulf War which began on August 2,
57	57	1990, and ends on the date thereafter prescribed by Presidential
58	58	proclamation or September 1, 1997, whichever occurs first;
59	59	(F) the national emergency by reason of certain
60	60	terrorist attacks that began on September 11, 2001; or
61	61	(G) any future national emergency declared in
62	62	accordance with federal law.
63	63	(a-1) A person who before the 2009-2010 academic year
64	64	received an exemption provided by Subsection (a) continues to be
65	65	eligible for the exemption provided by that subsection as that
66	66	subsection existed on January 1, 2009, subject to the other
67	67	provisions of this section other than the requirement of Subsection
68	68	(a) that the person must have entered the service at a location in
69	69	this state, declared this state as the person's home of record, or
70	70	would have been determined to be a resident of this state for
71	71	purposes of Subchapter B at the time the person entered the service.
72	72	(b) The exemptions provided for in Subsection (a) [of this
73	73	section] also apply [and inure] to [the benefit of]:
74	74	(1) the children of members of the armed forces of the
75	75	United States:
76	76	(A) who are or were killed in action;
77	77	(B) who die or died while in service;
78	78	(C) who are missing in action;
79	79	(D) whose death is documented to be directly
80	80	caused by illness or injury connected with service in the armed
81	81	forces of the United States; or
82	82	(E) who became totally disabled for purposes of
83	83	employability according to the disability ratings of the Department
84	84	of Veterans Affairs as a result of a service-related injury; and
85	85	(2) the [orphans or] children of members of the Texas
86	86	National Guard and the Texas Air National Guard who:
87	87	(A) were killed since January 1, 1946, while on
88	88	active duty either in the service of their state or the United
89	89	States; or
90	90	(B) are totally disabled for purposes of
91	91	employability according to the disability ratings of the Department
92	92	of Veterans Affairs, regardless of whether the members are eligible
93	93	to receive disability benefits from the department, as a result of a
94	94	service-related injury suffered since January 1, 1946, while on
95	95	active duty either in the service of this state or the United
96	96	States.
97	97	(b-1) To qualify for an exemption under Subsection (b), a
98	98	child [person must be a citizen of Texas and] must be classified as
99	99	a resident under Subchapter B on [have resided in the state for at
100	100	least 12 months immediately preceding] the date of the child's
101	101	[person's] registration.
102	102	(d) The governing board of each institution of higher
103	103	education granting an exemption under this section [exemptions]
104	104	shall require every applicant claiming the [benefit of an]
105	105	exemption to submit satisfactory evidence that the applicant
106	106	qualifies for [he fulfills] the exemption [necessary citizenship
107	107	and residency requirements].
108	108	(g) The governing board of a junior college district may
109	109	establish a fee for extraordinary costs associated with a specific
110	110	course or program and may provide that the exemptions provided by
111	111	this section [Subsections (a) and (b)] do not apply to this fee.
112	112	(k) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule
113	113	shall prescribe procedures to allow a person who becomes eligible
114	114	for an exemption provided by Subsection (a) to waive the person's
115	115	right to any unused portion of the maximum number of cumulative
116	116	credit hours for which the person could receive the exemption and
117	117	assign the exemption for the unused portion of those credit hours to
118	118	a child of the person. The procedures shall provide:
119	119	(1) the manner in which a person may waive the
120	120	exemption and designate a child to receive the exemption;
121	121	(2) a procedure permitting the person to designate a
122	122	different child to receive the exemption if the child previously
123	123	designated to receive the exemption did not use the exemption under
124	124	this section for all of the assigned portion of credit hours; and
125	125	(3) a method of documentation to enable institutions
126	126	of higher education to determine the eligibility of the designated
127	127	child to receive the exemption.
128	128	(l) To be eligible to receive an exemption under Subsection
129	129	(k), the child must:
130	130	(1) be a student who is classified as a resident under
131	131	Subchapter B when the child enrolls in an institution of higher
132	132	education;
133	133	(2) make satisfactory academic progress in a degree,
134	134	certificate, or continuing education program as determined by the
135	135	institution at which the child is enrolled in accordance with the
136	136	policy of the institution's financial aid department, except that
137	137	the institution may not require the child to enroll in a minimum
138	138	course load; and
139	139	(3) be 25 years of age or younger on the first day of
140	140	the semester or other academic term for which the exemption is
141	141	claimed, except that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
142	142	by rule shall prescribe procedures by which a child who suffered
143	143	from a severe illness or other debilitating condition that affected
144	144	the child's ability to use the exemption before reaching that age
145	145	may be granted additional time to use the exemption corresponding
146	146	to the time the child was unable to use the exemption because of the
147	147	illness or condition.
148	148	(m) For purposes of this section, a person is the child of
149	149	another person if:
150	150	(1) the person is the stepchild or the biological or
151	151	adopted child of the other person; or
152	152	(2) the other person claimed the person as a dependent
153	153	on a federal income tax return filed for the preceding year or will
154	154	claim the person as a dependent on a federal income tax return for
155	155	the current year.
156	156	SECTION 3. Subsections (e) and (e-1), Section 54.203,
157	157	Education Code, as amended by Chapters 443 (H.B. 125) and 1334 (S.B.
158	158	1640), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, are
159	159	reenacted and amended to read as follows:
160	160	(e) The exemption from tuition, fees, and other charges
161	161	provided for by this section [in Subsection (a)] does not apply to a
162	162	person who at the time of registration is entitled to receive
163	163	educational benefits under federal legislation that may be used
164	164	only for the payment of tuition and fees if the value of those
165	165	benefits received in a semester or other term is equal to or exceeds
166	166	the value of the exemption for the same semester or other term. If
167	167	the value of federal benefits that may be used only for the payment
168	168	of tuition and fees and are received in a semester or other term
169	169	does not equal or exceed the value of the exemption for the same
170	170	semester or other term, the person is entitled to receive both those
171	171	federal benefits [the federal benefit] and the exemption in the
172	172	same semester or other term. The combined amount of the federal
173	173	benefit that may be used only for the payment of tuition and fees
174	174	plus the amount of the exemption received in a semester or other
175	175	term may not exceed the cost of tuition and fees for that semester
176	176	or other term. [A person is covered by the exemption if the
177	177	person's right to benefits under federal legislation is
178	178	extinguished at the time of the person's registration, except that
179	179	a person may not receive an exemption from fees under this section
180	180	if the person's right to benefits under federal legislation is
181	181	extinguished because the person is in default of repayment of a loan
182	182	made to the person under a federal program to provide or guarantee
183	183	loans for educational purposes.]
184	184	(e-1) A person may not receive an exemption under this
185	185	section if the person is in default on a loan made or guaranteed for
186	186	educational purposes by the State of Texas.
187	187	SECTION 4. (a) Section 54.203, Education Code, as amended
188	188	by this Act, applies beginning with tuition and other fees charged
189	189	for the 2009 fall semester. If a person who becomes eligible for an
190	190	exemption in that semester under that section has paid the tuition
191	191	and other fees for that semester to which the exemption applies, the
192	192	institution of higher education shall refund to the student the
193	193	amount of the tuition and fees paid by the person in the amount of
194	194	the exemption. Tuition and other fees charged for an academic
195	195	period before the 2009 fall semester are covered by the law in
196	196	effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
197	197	former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
198	198	(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
199	199	prescribe the procedures required by Subsections (k) and (l),
200	200	Section 54.203, Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as
201	201	practicable after the effective date of this Act. For that purpose,
202	202	the coordinating board may adopt the initial rules prescribing
203	203	those procedures in the manner provided by law for emergency rules.
204	204	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
205	205	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
206	206	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
207	207	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
208	208	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.