| 1 | 1 | | 88R9664 JRJ-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Frazier H.B. No. 2596 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to eligibility of certain current or former members of the |
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| 8 | 8 | | Texas National Guard or the Texas Air National Guard for tuition and |
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| 9 | 9 | | fee exemptions at public institutions of higher education. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Section 54.341(a), Education Code, is amended to |
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| 12 | 12 | | read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (a) The governing board of each institution of higher |
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| 14 | 14 | | education shall exempt the following persons from the payment of |
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| 15 | 15 | | tuition, dues, fees, and other required charges, including fees for |
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| 16 | 16 | | correspondence courses but excluding general deposit fees, student |
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| 17 | 17 | | services fees, and any fees or charges for lodging, board, or |
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| 18 | 18 | | clothing, provided the person seeking the exemption currently |
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| 19 | 19 | | resides in this state and entered the service at a location in this |
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| 20 | 20 | | state, declared this state as the person's home of record in the |
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| 21 | 21 | | manner provided by the applicable military or other service, or |
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| 22 | 22 | | would have been determined to be a resident of this state for |
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| 23 | 23 | | purposes of Subchapter B at the time the person entered the service: |
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| 24 | 24 | | (1) all nurses and honorably discharged members of the |
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| 25 | 25 | | armed forces of the United States who served during the |
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| 26 | 26 | | Spanish-American War or during World War I; |
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| 27 | 27 | | (2) all nurses, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary |
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| 28 | 28 | | Corps, members of the Women's Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency |
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| 29 | 29 | | Service, and all honorably discharged members of the armed forces |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the United States who served during World War II except those who |
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| 31 | 31 | | were discharged from service because they were over the age of 38 or |
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| 32 | 32 | | because of a personal request on the part of the person that the |
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| 33 | 33 | | person be discharged from service; |
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| 34 | 34 | | (3) all honorably discharged men and women of the |
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| 35 | 35 | | armed forces of the United States who served during the national |
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| 36 | 36 | | emergency which began on June 27, 1950, and which is referred to as |
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| 37 | 37 | | the Korean War; [and] |
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| 38 | 38 | | (4) all persons who were honorably discharged from the |
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| 39 | 39 | | armed forces of the United States after serving on active military |
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| 40 | 40 | | duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days and who served a |
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| 41 | 41 | | portion of their active duty during: |
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| 42 | 42 | | (A) the Cold War which began on the date of the |
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| 43 | 43 | | termination of the national emergency cited in Subdivision (3); |
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| 44 | 44 | | (B) the Vietnam era which began on December 21, |
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| 45 | 45 | | 1961, and ended on May 7, 1975; |
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| 46 | 46 | | (C) the Grenada and Lebanon era which began on |
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| 47 | 47 | | August 24, 1982, and ended on July 31, 1984; |
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| 48 | 48 | | (D) the Panama era which began on December 20, |
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| 49 | 49 | | 1989, and ended on January 21, 1990; |
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| 50 | 50 | | (E) the Persian Gulf War which began on August 2, |
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| 51 | 51 | | 1990, and ends on the date thereafter prescribed by Presidential |
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| 52 | 52 | | proclamation or September 1, 1997, whichever occurs first; |
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| 53 | 53 | | (F) the national emergency by reason of certain |
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| 54 | 54 | | terrorist attacks that began on September 11, 2001; or |
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| 55 | 55 | | (G) any future national emergency declared in |
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| 56 | 56 | | accordance with federal law; and |
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| 57 | 57 | | (5) all current members of the Texas National Guard or |
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| 58 | 58 | | the Texas Air National Guard who have served on active state |
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| 59 | 59 | | military duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days, and all |
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| 60 | 60 | | members of the Texas National Guard or the Texas Air National Guard |
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| 61 | 61 | | who were honorably discharged after serving on active state |
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| 62 | 62 | | military duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days. |
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| 63 | 63 | | SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act to Section |
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| 64 | 64 | | 54.341, Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and fees |
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| 65 | 65 | | charged for the 2023 fall semester. Tuition and fees charged for a |
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| 66 | 66 | | term or semester before the 2023 fall semester are covered by the |
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| 67 | 67 | | law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and |
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| 68 | 68 | | the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 69 | 69 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 70 | 70 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 71 | 71 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 72 | 72 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 73 | 73 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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