| 1 | 1 | | 89R16694 AND-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Shofner H.B. No. 4347 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | relating to the eligibility of children and other dependents of |
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| 10 | 10 | | certain military personnel or veterans for tuition and fee |
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| 11 | 11 | | exemptions at public institutions of higher education. |
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| 12 | 12 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 13 | 13 | | SECTION 1. Section 54.341(k), Education Code, is amended to |
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| 14 | 14 | | read as follows: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (k) The Texas Veterans Commission by rule shall prescribe |
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| 16 | 16 | | procedures to allow: |
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| 17 | 17 | | (1) a person who becomes eligible for an exemption |
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| 18 | 18 | | provided by Subsection (a), or an active member of the armed forces |
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| 19 | 19 | | of the United States who would otherwise be eligible for an |
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| 20 | 20 | | exemption provided by Subsection (a) but for the requirement to |
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| 21 | 21 | | have been honorably discharged, to waive the person's right to any |
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| 22 | 22 | | unused portion of the number of cumulative credit hours for which |
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| 23 | 23 | | the person could receive the exemption and assign the exemption for |
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| 24 | 24 | | the unused portion of those credit hours to a child of the person; |
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| 25 | 25 | | and |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2) following the death of a person who becomes |
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| 27 | 27 | | eligible for an exemption provided by Subsection (a), or an active |
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| 28 | 28 | | member of the armed forces of the United States who would otherwise |
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| 29 | 29 | | be eligible for an exemption provided by Subsection (a) but for the |
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| 30 | 30 | | requirement to have been honorably discharged, the assignment of |
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| 31 | 31 | | the exemption for the unused portion of the credit hours to a child |
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| 32 | 32 | | of the person, to be made by the person's spouse or by the |
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| 33 | 33 | | conservator, guardian, custodian, or other legally designated |
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| 34 | 34 | | caretaker of the child, if the child does not otherwise qualify for |
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| 35 | 35 | | an exemption under Subsection (b). |
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| 36 | 36 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act to Section |
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| 37 | 37 | | 54.341, Education Code, applies beginning with tuition and fees |
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| 38 | 38 | | charged for the 2025 fall semester. Tuition and fees charged for a |
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| 39 | 39 | | term or semester before the 2025 fall semester are covered by the |
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| 40 | 40 | | law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and |
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| 41 | 41 | | the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 42 | 42 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 43 | 43 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 44 | 44 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 45 | 45 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 46 | 46 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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