| 1 | 1 | | 84R12138 JSL-D |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | By: Martinez H.B. No. 2875 |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | relating to state-supported education and health care benefits for |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | certain military personnel and their dependents. |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 54.341(a), Education Code, is amended to |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | read as follows: |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | (a) The governing board of each institution of higher |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | education shall exempt the following persons from the payment of |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | tuition, dues, fees, and other required charges, including fees for |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | correspondence courses but excluding general deposit fees, student |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | services fees, and any fees or charges for lodging, board, or |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | clothing, provided the person seeking the exemption currently |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | resides in this state and has established a domicile, as defined by |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | Section 54.0501, in this state [entered the service at a location in |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | this state, declared this state as the person's home of record in |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | the manner provided by the applicable military or other service, or |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | would have been determined to be a resident of this state for |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | purposes of Subchapter B at the time the person entered the |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | service]: |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | (1) all nurses and honorably discharged members of the |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | armed forces of the United States who served during the |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | Spanish-American War or during World War I; |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | (2) all nurses, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | Corps, members of the Women's Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | Service, and all honorably discharged members of the armed forces |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | of the United States who served during World War II except those who |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | were discharged from service because they were over the age of 38 or |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | because of a personal request on the part of the person that the |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | person be discharged from service; |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | (3) all honorably discharged men and women of the |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | armed forces of the United States who served during the national |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | emergency which began on June 27, 1950, and which is referred to as |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | the Korean War; and |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | (4) all persons who were honorably discharged from the |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | armed forces of the United States after serving on active military |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days and who served a |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | portion of their active duty during: |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | (A) the Cold War which began on the date of the |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | termination of the national emergency cited in Subdivision (3); |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | (B) the Vietnam era which began on December 21, |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | 1961, and ended on May 7, 1975; |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | (C) the Grenada and Lebanon era which began on |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | August 24, 1982, and ended on July 31, 1984; |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | (D) the Panama era which began on December 20, |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | 1989, and ended on January 21, 1990; |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | (E) the Persian Gulf War which began on August 2, |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | 1990, and ends on the date thereafter prescribed by Presidential |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | proclamation or September 1, 1997, whichever occurs first; |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | (F) the national emergency by reason of certain |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | terrorist attacks that began on September 11, 2001; or |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | (G) any future national emergency declared in |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | accordance with federal law. |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 434, Government Code, is |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | amended by adding Section 434.0191 to read as follows: |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | Sec. 434.0191. FREE HEALTH CARE SERVICES FOR VETERANS AND |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | DEPENDENTS. The Texas Veterans Commission, in cooperation with the |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | Health and Human Services Commission and the board of regents of The |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | University of Texas System, shall ensure that a person who is |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | eligible for an exemption from tuition and fees under Section |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | 51.341(a), (a-2), or (b) and who resides in the Rio Grande Valley |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | region of this state is eligible to receive health care services at |
|---|
| 67 | 67 | | no cost at a simulation teaching hospital in the Rio Grande Valley |
|---|
| 68 | 68 | | associated with The University of Texas System. |
|---|
| 69 | 69 | | SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Section |
|---|
| 70 | 70 | | 54.341(a), Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and fees |
|---|
| 71 | 71 | | charged for the 2015 fall semester. Tuition and fees charged for a |
|---|
| 72 | 72 | | term or semester before the 2015 fall semester are governed by the |
|---|
| 73 | 73 | | law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and |
|---|
| 74 | 74 | | the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
|---|
| 75 | 75 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|---|
| 76 | 76 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|---|
| 77 | 77 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|---|
| 78 | 78 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|---|
| 79 | 79 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |
|---|