Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB165 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R2917 CXP-D
2	2	By: Menéndez S.B. No. 165
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the measures to encourage eligible students to claim
10	10	certain tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of higher
11	11	education for students who are or have been in foster or other
12	12	residential care.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Section 54.366(b), Education Code, is amended to
15	15	read as follows:
16	16	(b) The Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
17	17	Education Coordinating Board shall develop outreach programs to
18	18	ensure that students in the conservatorship of the Department of
19	19	Family and Protective Services and in grades 9 through 12 [9-12] are
20	20	aware of the availability of the exemption from the payment of
21	21	tuition and fees provided by this section. The outreach programs
22	22	must include the provision of informational materials regarding the
23	23	exemption to each:
24	24	(1) residential child-care facility as defined by
25	25	Section 42.002, Human Resources Code;
26	26	(2) foster parent or relative or other designated
27	27	caregiver of a student enrolled in grade 9 through 12; and
28	28	(3) school district, open-enrollment charter school,
29	29	and private school offering grade nine or above.
30	30	SECTION 2. Section 54.367(b), Education Code, is amended to
31	31	read as follows:
32	32	(b) The Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
33	33	Education Coordinating Board shall develop outreach programs to
34	34	ensure that adopted students in grades 9 through 12 [9-12] formerly
35	35	in foster or other residential care are aware of the availability of
36	36	the exemption from the payment of tuition and fees provided by this
37	37	section. The outreach programs must include the provision of
38	38	informational materials regarding the exemption to each:
39	39	(1) residential child-care facility as defined by
40	40	Section 42.002, Human Resources Code;
41	41	(2) adoptive parent of a student enrolled in grade 9
42	42	through 12 who was formerly in foster or other residential care; and
43	43	(3) school district, open-enrollment charter school,
44	44	and private school offering grade nine or above.
45	45	SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
46	46	amended by adding Section 54.3671 to read as follows:
47	47	Sec. 54.3671. STREAMLINED ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION AND
48	48	APPLICATION PROCESS FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS. The Texas Higher
49	49	Education Coordinating Board and the Department of Family and
50	50	Protective Services shall jointly design and implement a
51	51	streamlined eligibility determination and application process for
52	52	the tuition and fee exemptions provided by Sections 54.366 and
53	53	54.367. The streamlined process must:
54	54	(1) be designed to decrease the administrative burden
55	55	on the department and students in determining exemption eligibility
56	56	by reducing data collection, data entry, and the copying and
57	57	recopying of applications;
58	58	(2) include a system through which a student may apply
59	59	for an exemption electronically through the department's Internet
60	60	website; and
61	61	(3) for a student determined by the department to be
62	62	eligible for an exemption, provide for the automatic submission by
63	63	the department to the institution of higher education indicated by
64	64	the student of the tuition waiver letter or other documentation
65	65	required by the institution to verify the student's eligibility.
66	66	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
67	67	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
68	68	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
69	69	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
70	70	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.