By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 1159
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to tuition and fee exemptions for certain military
personnel and their dependents.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.341, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (a-2), (b), (e), (k-1), (l), (m), and (n)
and adding Subsection (a-4) to read as follows:
(a) The governing board of each institution of higher
education shall exempt the following persons from the payment of
tuition, dues, fees, and other required charges, including fees for
correspondence courses but excluding general deposit fees, student
services fees, and any fees or charges for lodging, board, or
clothing, provided the person seeking the exemption currently
resides in this state or resides outside of this state due to the
person's military assignment or the military assignment of the
person's spouse and entered the service at a location in this state,
declared this state as the person's home of record in the manner
provided by the applicable military or other service, or would have
been determined to be a resident of this state for purposes of
Subchapter B at the time the person entered the service:
(1) all nurses and honorably discharged members of the
armed forces of the United States who served during the
Spanish-American War or during World War I;
(2) all nurses, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary
Corps, members of the Women's Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency
Service, and all honorably discharged members of the armed forces
of the United States who served during World War II except those who
were discharged from service because they were over the age of 38 or
because of a personal request on the part of the person that the
person be discharged from service;
(3) all honorably discharged men and women of the
armed forces of the United States who served during the national
emergency which began on June 27, 1950, and which is referred to as
the Korean War; and
(4) all persons who were honorably discharged from the
armed forces of the United States after serving on active military
duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days and who served a
portion of their active duty during:
(A) the Cold War which began on the date of the
termination of the national emergency cited in Subdivision (3);
(B) the Vietnam era which began on December 21,
1961, and ended on May 7, 1975;
(C) the Grenada and Lebanon era which began on
August 24, 1982, and ended on July 31, 1984;
(D) the Panama era which began on December 20,
1989, and ended on January 21, 1990;
(E) the Persian Gulf War which began on August 2,
1990, and ends on the date thereafter prescribed by Presidential
proclamation or September 1, 1997, whichever occurs first;
(F) the national emergency by reason of certain
terrorist attacks that began on September 11, 2001; or
(G) any future national emergency declared in
accordance with federal law.
(a-2) The exemptions provided for in Subsection (a) also
apply to the spouse of:
(1) a member of the armed forces of the United States:
(A) who was killed in action;
(B) who died while in service;
(C) who is 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 and permanently disabled
or meets the eligibility requirements for individual
unemployability [for purposes of employability] according to the
disability ratings of the Department of Veterans Affairs as a
result of a service-related injury; or
(2) a member of the Texas National Guard or the Texas
Air National Guard who:
(A) was killed since January 1, 1946, while on
active duty either in the service of this state or the United
States; or
(B) is totally and permanently disabled or meets
the eligibility requirements for individual unemployability [for
purposes of employability] according to the disability ratings of
the Department of Veterans Affairs, regardless of whether the
member is 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.
(a-4) Subsection (a-2) or (b) applies only if the member of
the armed forces of the United States entered the service at a
location in this state, declared this state as the person's home of
record in the manner provided by the applicable military or other
service, or would have been determined to be a resident of this
state for purposes of Subchapter B at the time the person entered
the service. The member is not required to meet any other
requirements of Subsection (a).
(b) The exemptions provided for in Subsection (a) also apply
to:
(1) the children of members of the armed forces of the
United States:
(A) who are or were killed in action;
(B) who die or died while in service;
(C) who 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 and permanently disabled
or meet the eligibility requirements for individual
unemployability [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 children of members of the Texas National
Guard and the Texas Air National Guard who:
(A) were killed since January 1, 1946, while on
active duty either in the service of their state or the United
States; or
(B) are totally and permanently disabled or meet
the eligibility requirements for individual unemployability [for
purposes of employability] according to the disability ratings of
the Department of Veterans Affairs, regardless of whether the
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.
(e) The exemption from tuition, fees, and other charges
provided for by this section does not apply to a person who at the
time of registration is entitled to receive educational benefits
under federal legislation that may be used only for the payment of
tuition and fees if the value of those benefits received in a
semester or other term is equal to or exceeds the value of the
exemption for the same semester or other term. If the value of
federal benefits that may be used only for the payment of tuition
and fees and are received in a semester or other term does not equal
or exceed the value of the exemption for the same semester or other
term, the person is entitled to receive both those federal benefits
and the exemption in the same semester or other term. A person who
is entitled for a semester or other term to receive more than one
type of federal benefit that may be used only for the payment of
tuition and fees may choose which benefit to apply for that semester
or other term. The extent to which an exemption under this section
applies to the person shall be based on the value of the federal
benefit or benefits the person chooses to use for that semester or
other term. The combined amount of the federal benefit or benefits
that may be used only for the payment of tuition and fees and that
are received in a semester or other term plus the amount of the
exemption received in that [a] semester or other term may not exceed
the cost of tuition and fees for that semester or other term.
(k-1) The procedures under Subsection (k) must provide:
(1) the manner in which a person may waive the
exemption;
(2) the manner in which a child may be designated to
receive the exemption;
(3) a procedure permitting the designation of a
different child to receive the exemption if the child previously
designated to receive the exemption did not use the exemption under
this section for all of the assigned portion of credit hours; [and]
(4) a method of documentation to enable institutions
of higher education to determine the eligibility of the designated
child to receive the exemption; and
(5) a procedure permitting a person who waived the
exemption and designated a child to receive the exemption to revoke
that designation as to any unused portion of the assigned credit
hours.
(l) To be eligible to receive an exemption under Subsection
(k), the child must:
(1) be a student who is classified as a resident under
Subchapter B when the child enrolls in an institution of higher
education; [and]
(2) make satisfactory academic progress in a degree,
certificate, or continuing education program as determined by the
institution at which the child is enrolled in accordance with the
policy of the institution's financial aid department, except that
the institution may not require the child to enroll in a minimum
course load; and
(3) be 25 years of age or younger on the first day of
the semester or other academic term for which the exemption is
claimed.
(m) For purposes of this section, a person is the child of
another person if [the person is 25 years of age or younger on the
first day of the semester or other academic term for which the
exemption is claimed and]:
(1) the person is the stepchild or the biological or
adopted child of the other person; or
(2) the other person claimed the person as a dependent
on a federal income tax return filed for the preceding year or will
claim the person as a dependent on a federal income tax return for
the current year.
(n) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule
shall prescribe procedures by which a child designated to receive
an exemption under Subsection (k) who suffered from a severe
illness or other debilitating condition that affected the child's
ability to use the exemption before reaching the age described by
Subsection (l)(3) [(m)] may be granted additional time to use the
exemption corresponding to the time the child was unable to use the
exemption because of the illness or condition.
SECTION 2. (a) The changes in law made by this Act by
amending Subsection (a), Section 54.341, Education Code, and by
adding Subsection (a-4), Section 54.341, Education Code, apply
immediately.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (a) of this section,
the changes in law made by this Act to Section 54.341, Education
Code, apply beginning with tuition and fees for the 2013 fall
semester. Tuition and fees for a term or semester before the 2013
fall 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, 2013.