Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 474 amends the Education Code to allow the spouse or dependent child of a member of the U.S. military on active duty outside the state to pay resident tuition at a public college or university in the state, provided the member previously lived in Texas for a year and (1) signed a document with the applicable branch of service, at least one year before the start of a semester, that indicated a permanent residence address in Texas and that names Texas as the member's legal residence for tax purposes; (2) has been a Texas registered voter for the entire year before the semester's start; and (3) has owned real property in the state for the entire year before the semester's start and is not delinquent in paying property taxes or has had an automobile registered in Texas during that period.

            The act also grants residency status for tuition purposes to former U.S. Armed Forces personnel and their spouses and dependent children if those former members have retired or been honorably discharged within one year of the semester's start and have complied with the residency requirements imposed on active duty personnel outside the state.

            The changes in law made by Senate Bill 474 apply beginning with the 1997 fall semester.