Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB639 Compare Versions

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1	1	82R25371 JRJ-D
2	2	By: Van de Putte, Zaffirini, et al. S.B. No. 639
3	3	(Branch)
4	4	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 639: No.
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of
10	10	higher education for certain military personnel, veterans, and
11	11	dependents residing in this state.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 54.203, Education Code, is amended by
14	14	amending Subsections (a), (d), (k), (l), and (m) and adding
15	15	Subsections (a-3), (k-1), and (n) to read as follows:
16	16	(a) The governing board of each institution of higher
17	17	education shall exempt the following persons from the payment of
18	18	tuition, dues, fees, and other required charges, including fees for
19	19	correspondence courses but excluding general deposit fees, student
20	20	services fees, and any fees or charges for lodging, board, or
21	21	clothing, provided the person seeking the exemption currently
22	22	resides in this state and entered the service at a location in this
23	23	state, declared this state as the person's home of record in the
24	24	manner provided by the applicable military or other service, or
25	25	would have been determined to be a resident of this state for
26	26	purposes of Subchapter B at the time the person entered the service:
27	27	(1) all nurses and honorably discharged members of the
28	28	armed forces of the United States who served during the
29	29	Spanish-American War or during World War I;
30	30	(2) all nurses, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary
31	31	Corps, members of the Women's Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency
32	32	Service, and all honorably discharged members of the armed forces
33	33	of the United States who served during World War II except those who
34	34	were discharged from service because they were over the age of 38 or
35	35	because of a personal request on the part of the person that the
36	36	person be discharged from service;
37	37	(3) all honorably discharged men and women of the
38	38	armed forces of the United States who served during the national
39	39	emergency which began on June 27, 1950, and which is referred to as
40	40	the Korean War; and
41	41	(4) all persons who were honorably discharged from the
42	42	armed forces of the United States after serving on active military
43	43	duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days and who served a
44	44	portion of their active duty during:
45	45	(A) the Cold War which began on the date of the
46	46	termination of the national emergency cited in Subdivision (3);
47	47	(B) the Vietnam era which began on December 21,
48	48	1961, and ended on May 7, 1975;
49	49	(C) the Grenada and Lebanon era which began on
50	50	August 24, 1982, and ended on July 31, 1984;
51	51	(D) the Panama era which began on December 20,
52	52	1989, and ended on January 21, 1990;
53	53	(E) the Persian Gulf War which began on August 2,
54	54	1990, and ends on the date thereafter prescribed by Presidential
55	55	proclamation or September 1, 1997, whichever occurs first;
56	56	(F) the national emergency by reason of certain
57	57	terrorist attacks that began on September 11, 2001; or
58	58	(G) any future national emergency declared in
59	59	accordance with federal law.
60	60	(a-3) A person who before the 2011-2012 academic year
61	61	received an exemption provided by Subsection (a) continues to be
62	62	eligible for the exemption provided by that subsection as that
63	63	subsection existed on January 1, 2011, subject to the other
64	64	provisions of this section other than the requirement of Subsection
65	65	(a) that the person must currently reside in this state.
66	66	(d) The governing board of each institution of higher
67	67	education granting an exemption under this section shall require
68	68	each [every] applicant claiming the exemption to submit to the
69	69	institution an application for the exemption and satisfactory
70	70	evidence that the applicant qualifies for the exemption not later
71	71	than one year after the earlier of the date the institution:
72	72	(1) provides written notice to the applicant of the
73	73	applicant's eligibility for the exemption; or
74	74	(2) receives a written acknowledgement from the
75	75	applicant evidencing the applicant's awareness of the applicant's
76	76	eligibility for the exemption.
77	77	(k) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule
78	78	shall prescribe procedures to allow:
79	79	(1) a person who becomes eligible for an exemption
80	80	provided by Subsection (a) to waive the person's right to any unused
81	81	portion of the maximum number of cumulative credit hours for which
82	82	the person could receive the exemption and assign the exemption for
83	83	the unused portion of those credit hours to a child of the person;
84	84	and
85	85	(2) following the death of a person who becomes
86	86	eligible for an exemption provided by Subsection (a), the
87	87	assignment of the exemption for the unused portion of the credit
88	88	hours to a child of the person, to be made by the person's spouse or
89	89	by the conservator, guardian, custodian, or other legally
90	90	designated caretaker of the child, if the child does not otherwise
91	91	qualify for an exemption under Subsection (b).
92	92	(k-1) The procedures under Subsection (k) must [shall]
93	93	provide:
94	94	(1) the manner in which a person may waive the
95	95	exemption;
96	96	(2) the manner in which [and designate] a child may be
97	97	designated to receive the exemption;
98	98	(3) [(2)] a procedure permitting the designation of
99	99	[person to designate] a different child to receive the exemption if
100	100	the child previously designated to receive the exemption did not
101	101	use the exemption under this section for all of the assigned portion
102	102	of credit hours; and
103	103	(4) [(3)] a method of documentation to enable
104	104	institutions of higher education to determine the eligibility of
105	105	the designated child to receive the exemption.
106	106	(l) To be eligible to receive an exemption under Subsection
107	107	(k), the child must:
108	108	(1) be a student who is classified as a resident under
109	109	Subchapter B when the child enrolls in an institution of higher
110	110	education; and
111	111	(2) make satisfactory academic progress in a degree,
112	112	certificate, or continuing education program as determined by the
113	113	institution at which the child is enrolled in accordance with the
114	114	policy of the institution's financial aid department, except that
115	115	the institution may not require the child to enroll in a minimum
116	116	course load[; and
117	117	[(3) be 25 years of age or younger on the first day of
118	118	the semester or other academic term for which the exemption is
119	119	claimed, except that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
120	120	by rule shall prescribe procedures by which a child who suffered
121	121	from a severe illness or other debilitating condition that affected
122	122	the child's ability to use the exemption before reaching that age
123	123	may be granted additional time to use the exemption corresponding
124	124	to the time the child was unable to use the exemption because of the
125	125	illness or condition].
126	126	(m) For purposes of this section, a person is the child of
127	127	another person if the person is 25 years of age or younger on the
128	128	first day of the semester or other academic term for which the
129	129	exemption is claimed and:
130	130	(1) the person is the stepchild or the biological or
131	131	adopted child of the other person; or
132	132	(2) the other person claimed the person as a dependent
133	133	on a federal income tax return filed for the preceding year or will
134	134	claim the person as a dependent on a federal income tax return for
135	135	the current year.
136	136	(n) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule
137	137	shall prescribe procedures by which a child who suffered from a
138	138	severe illness or other debilitating condition that affected the
139	139	child's ability to use the exemption before reaching the age
140	140	described by Subsection (m) may be granted additional time to use
141	141	the exemption corresponding to the time the child was unable to use
142	142	the exemption because of the illness or condition.
143	143	SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
144	144	amended by adding Section 54.2031 to read as follows:
145	145	Sec. 54.2031. DEPENDENT CHILDREN OF RESIDENTS WHO ARE
146	146	MEMBERS OF ARMED FORCES DEPLOYED ON COMBAT DUTY. (a) In this
147	147	section:
148	148	(1) "Child" includes a stepchild or adopted child.
149	149	(2) "Dependent" means a person who:
150	150	(A) is claimed as a dependent on a federal income
151	151	tax return filed for the preceding year; or
152	152	(B) will be claimed as a dependent on a federal
153	153	income tax return filed for the current year.
154	154	(b) The governing board of an institution of higher
155	155	education shall exempt from the payment of tuition at the
156	156	institution a dependent child of a member of the armed forces of the
157	157	United States who is a resident of this state or is entitled to pay
158	158	resident tuition under this chapter, for any semester or other
159	159	academic term during which the member of the armed forces is
160	160	deployed on active duty for the purpose of engaging in a combative
161	161	military operation outside the United States.
162	162	(c) The governing board of an institution of higher
163	163	education granting an exemption under this section shall require
164	164	each applicant claiming the exemption to submit satisfactory
165	165	evidence that the applicant qualifies for the exemption.
166	166	(d) A person may not receive an exemption provided for by
167	167	this section for more than a cumulative total of 150 semester credit
168	168	hours.
169	169	(e) A person may not receive an exemption under this section
170	170	if the person is in default on a loan made or guaranteed for
171	171	educational purposes by the State of Texas.
172	172	(f) In determining whether to admit a person to any
173	173	certificate program or any baccalaureate, graduate, postgraduate,
174	174	or professional degree program, an institution of higher education
175	175	may not consider the fact that the person is eligible for an
176	176	exemption under this section.
177	177	(g) In its appropriations to institutions of higher
178	178	education, the legislature shall, based on availability, provide
179	179	sufficient money to cover the full costs of the exemptions provided
180	180	for by this section.
181	181	(h) If sufficient money is not available to cover the full
182	182	costs to the institutions of higher education of the exemptions
183	183	provided for by this section, the Texas Higher Education
184	184	Coordinating Board shall prorate the available funding to each
185	185	institution for purposes of this section in proportion to the total
186	186	amount the institution would otherwise be entitled to receive for
187	187	purposes of this section. An institution is required to grant an
188	188	exemption from the payment of tuition under this section only to the
189	189	extent money is available for that purpose.
190	190	(i) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may adopt
191	191	rules necessary to administer this section.
192	192	SECTION 3. Section 54.203(b-2), Education Code, is
193	193	repealed.
194	194	SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies
195	195	beginning with tuition and fees for the 2011 fall semester. Tuition
196	196	and fees for a term or semester before the 2011 fall semester are
197	197	covered by the law in effect immediately before the effective date
198	198	of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that
199	199	purpose.
200	200	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
201	201	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
202	202	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
203	203	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
204	204	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.