84R12138 JSL-D
By: Martinez H.B. No. 2875
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to state-supported education and health care benefits for
certain military personnel and their dependents.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.341(a), Education Code, is amended 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 and has established a domicile, as defined by
Section 54.0501, in this state [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.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 434, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 434.0191 to read as follows:
Sec. 434.0191. FREE HEALTH CARE SERVICES FOR VETERANS AND
DEPENDENTS. The Texas Veterans Commission, in cooperation with the
Health and Human Services Commission and the board of regents of The
University of Texas System, shall ensure that a person who is
eligible for an exemption from tuition and fees under Section
51.341(a), (a-2), or (b) and who resides in the Rio Grande Valley
region of this state is eligible to receive health care services at
no cost at a simulation teaching hospital in the Rio Grande Valley
associated with The University of Texas System.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
54.341(a), Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and fees
charged for the 2015 fall semester. Tuition and fees charged for a
term or semester before the 2015 fall semester are governed 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. 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, 2015.