Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB976 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	By: Collier H.B. No. 976
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to higher education for veterans and their families.
7	7	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	8	SECTION 1. Chapter 54, Education Code, is amended by
9	9	amending Subsections (a), (a-3) and (a-4) and adding Subsection
10	10	(a-5) to read as follows:
11	11	(a) The governing board of each institution of higher
12	12	education shall exempt the following persons from the payment of
13	13	tuition, dues, fees, and other required charges, including fees for
14	14	correspondence courses but excluding general deposit fees, student
15	15	services fees, and any fees or charges for lodging, board, or
16	16	clothing, provided the person seeking the exemption currently
17	17	resides in this state and entered the service at a location in this
18	18	state, declared this state as the person's home of record in the
19	19	manner provided by the applicable military or other service, or
20	20	would have been determined to be is a resident of this state for
21	21	purposes under Subchapter B at the time the person entered the
22	22	service on the date of registration:
23	23	(1) all nurses and honorably discharged members of the
24	24	armed forces of the United States who served during the
25	25	Spanish-American War or during World War I;
26	26	(2) all nurses, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary
27	27	Corps, members of the Women's Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency
28	28	Service, and all honorably discharged members of the armed forces
29	29	of the United States who served during World War II except those who
30	30	were discharged from service because they were over the age of 38 or
31	31	because of a personal request on the part of the person that the
32	32	person be discharged from service;
33	33	(3) all honorably discharged men and women of the
34	34	armed forces of the United States who served during the national
35	35	emergency which began on June 27, 1950, and which is referred to as
36	36	the Korean War; and
37	37	(4) all persons who were honorably discharged from the
38	38	armed forces of the United States after serving on active military
39	39	duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days and who served a
40	40	portion of their active duty during:
41	41	(A) the Cold War which began on the date of the
42	42	termination of the national emergency cited in Subdivision (3);
43	43	(B) the Vietnam era which began on December 21,
44	44	1961, and ended on May 7, 1975;
45	45	(C) the Grenada and Lebanon era which began on
46	46	August 24, 1982, and ended on July 31, 1984;
47	47	(D) the Panama era which began on December 20,
48	48	1989, and ended on January 21, 1990;
49	49	(E) the Persian Gulf War which began on August 2,
50	50	1990, and ends on the date thereafter prescribed by Presidential
51	51	proclamation or September 1, 1997, whichever occurs first;
52	52	(F) the national emergency by reason of certain
53	53	terrorist attacks that began on September 11, 2001; or
54	54	(G) any future national emergency declared in
55	55	accordance with federal law.
56	56	(a-3) A person who before the 2011-2012 academic year
57	57	received an exemption provided by Subsection (a) continues to be
58	58	eligible for the exemption provided by that subsection as that
59	59	subsection existed on January 1, 2011, subject to the other
60	60	provisions of this section other than the requirement of Subsection
61	61	(a) that the person must currently reside in this state. that the
62	62	person must have entered the service at a location in this state,
63	63	declared this state as the person's home of record, or would have
64	64	been determined to be a resident of this state for the purposes of
65	65	Subchapter B at the time the person entered service.
66	66	(a-4) A person who before the 2014-2015 academic year
67	67	received an exemption under this section continues to be eligible
68	68	for the exemption provided by this section as this section existed
69	69	on January 1, 2013. subject to the other provisions of this section
70	70	other than the requirement of Subsection (a) that the person must
71	71	have entered the service at a location in this state, declared this
72	72	state as the person's home of record, or would have been determined
73	73	to be a resident of this state for purposes of Subchapter B at the
74	74	time the person entered the service.
75	75	(a-5) A person who before the 2015-2016 academic year
76	76	received an exemption under this section continues to be eligible
77	77	for the exemption provided by this section as this section existed
78	78	on January 1, 2015, other than the requirement of Subsection (a)
79	79	that the person must have entered the service at a location in this
80	80	state, declared this state as the person's home of record, or would
81	81	have been determined to be a resident of this state for the purposes
82	82	of Subchapter B at the time the person entered the service.
83	83	(b) The exemptions provided for in Subsection (a) also apply
84	84	to:
85	85	(1) the children of members of the armed forces of the
86	86	United States:
87	87	(A) who are or were killed in action;
88	88	(B) who die or died while in service;
89	89	(C) who are missing in action;
90	90	(D) whose death is documented to be directly
91	91	caused by illness or injury connected with service in the armed
92	92	forces of the United States; or
93	93	(E) who became totally and permanently disabled
94	94	or meet the eligibility requirements for individual
95	95	unemployability according to the disability ratings of the
96	96	Department of Veterans Affairs as a result of a service-related
97	97	injury; and
98	98	(2) the children of members of the Texas National
99	99	Guard and the Texas Air National Guard who:
100	100	(A) were killed since January 1, 1946, while on
101	101	active duty either in the service of their state or the United
102	102	States; or
103	103	(B) are totally and permanently disabled or meet
104	104	the eligibility requirements for individual unemployability
105	105	according to the disability ratings of the Department of Veterans
106	106	Affairs, regardless of whether the members are eligible to receive
107	107	disability benefits from the department, as a result of a
108	108	service-related injury suffered since January 1, 1946, while on
109	109	active duty either in the service of this state or the United
110	110	States.
111	111	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately, if it
112	112	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
113	113	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
114	114	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary to take effect on
115	115	that date, this Act takes effect September 1, 2015.