| 1 | 1 | | 88R6159 JTZ-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Menéndez S.B. No. 438 |
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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 tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of |
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| 8 | 8 | | higher education for certain students who were under the |
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| 9 | 9 | | conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective |
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| 10 | 10 | | Services. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Sections 54.366(a) and (c), Education Code, are |
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| 13 | 13 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (a) A student is exempt from the payment of tuition and fees |
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| 15 | 15 | | authorized in this chapter, including tuition and fees charged by |
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| 16 | 16 | | an institution of higher education for a dual credit course or other |
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| 17 | 17 | | course for which a high school student may earn joint high school |
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| 18 | 18 | | and college credit, if the student[: |
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| 19 | 19 | | [(1)] was under the conservatorship of the Department |
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| 20 | 20 | | of Family and Protective Services: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (1) [(A)] on the day preceding the student's 18th |
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| 22 | 22 | | birthday; |
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| 23 | 23 | | (2) [(B)] on or after the day of the student's 14th |
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| 24 | 24 | | birthday, if the student was also eligible for adoption on or after |
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| 25 | 25 | | that day; |
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| 26 | 26 | | (3) [(C)] on the day the student graduated from high |
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| 27 | 27 | | school or received the equivalent of a high school diploma; |
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| 28 | 28 | | (4) [(D)] on the day preceding: |
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| 29 | 29 | | (A) [(i)] the date the student is adopted, if |
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| 30 | 30 | | that date is on or after September 1, 2009; or |
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| 31 | 31 | | (B) [(ii)] the date permanent managing |
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| 32 | 32 | | conservatorship of the student is awarded to a person other than the |
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| 33 | 33 | | student's parent, if that date is on or after September 1, 2009; or |
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| 34 | 34 | | (5) [(E)] during an academic term in which the student |
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| 35 | 35 | | was enrolled in a dual credit course or other course for which a |
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| 36 | 36 | | high school student may earn joint high school and college credit[; |
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| 37 | 37 | | and |
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| 38 | 38 | | [(2) enrolls in an institution of higher education as |
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| 39 | 39 | | an undergraduate student or in a dual credit course or other course |
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| 40 | 40 | | for which a high school student may earn joint high school and |
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| 41 | 41 | | college credit not later than the student's 25th birthday]. |
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| 42 | 42 | | (c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) [(a)(1)], a child who |
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| 43 | 43 | | exits the conservatorship of the Department of Family and |
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| 44 | 44 | | Protective Services and is returned to the child's parent, |
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| 45 | 45 | | including a parent whose parental rights were previously |
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| 46 | 46 | | terminated, may be exempt from the payment of tuition and fees if |
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| 47 | 47 | | the department determines that the child is eligible under |
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| 48 | 48 | | department rule. The executive commissioner of the Health and |
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| 49 | 49 | | Human Services Commission shall by rule develop factors for |
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| 50 | 50 | | determining eligibility under this subsection in consultation with |
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| 51 | 51 | | the department and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. |
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| 52 | 52 | | SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act to Section |
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| 53 | 53 | | 54.366, Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and fees |
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| 54 | 54 | | charged for the 2023 fall semester. Tuition and fees charged for a |
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| 55 | 55 | | term or semester before the 2023 fall semester are governed by the |
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| 56 | 56 | | law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and |
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| 57 | 57 | | the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 58 | 58 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 59 | 59 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 60 | 60 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 61 | 61 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 62 | 62 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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