By Delco H.B. No. 1356
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to exempting certain persons from tuition, fees, and
1-3 charges at public institutions of higher education.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 54.203(a), Education Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 (a) The governing board of each institution of higher
1-8 education shall exempt the following persons from the payment of
1-9 all dues, fees, and charges for undergraduate courses, including
1-10 fees for correspondence courses but excluding property deposit
1-11 fees, student services fees, and any fees or charges for lodging,
1-12 board, or clothing, provided the persons seeking the exemptions
1-13 demonstrate financial need as defined by the Texas Higher Education
1-14 Coordinating Board, were citizens of Texas at the time they entered
1-15 the services indicated, and have resided in Texas for at least the
1-16 period of 12 months before the date of registration:
1-17 (1) all nurses and honorably discharged members of the
1-18 armed forces of the United States who served during the
1-19 Spanish-American War or during World War I;
1-20 (2) all nurses, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary
1-21 Corps, members of the Women's Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency
1-22 Service, and all honorably discharged members of the armed forces
1-23 of the United States who served during World War II except those
1-24 who were discharged from service because they were over the age of
2-1 38 or because of a personal request on the part of the person that
2-2 he be discharged from service;
2-3 (3) all honorably discharged men and women of the
2-4 armed forces of the United States who served during the national
2-5 emergency which began on June 27, 1950, and which is referred to as
2-6 the Korean War; and
2-7 (4) all persons who were honorably discharged from the
2-8 armed forces of the United States after serving on active military
2-9 duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days during the Cold
2-10 War which began on the date of the termination of the national
2-11 emergency cited in Subdivision (3) of this subsection.
2-12 SECTION 2. Section 54.203(b), Education Code, is amended to
2-13 read as follows:
2-14 (b) The exemptions provided for in Subsection (a) of this
2-15 section also apply and inure to the benefit of the children of
2-16 members of the armed forces of the United States who are or were
2-17 killed in action, who die or died while in service, who are missing
2-18 in action, or whose death is documented to be directly caused by
2-19 illness or injury connected with service in the armed forces of the
2-20 United States <during World War II, the national emergency which
2-21 began on June 27, 1950, or the Cold War>, and to the benefit of
2-22 orphans of members of the Texas National Guard and the Texas Air
2-23 National Guard killed since January 1, 1946, while on active duty
2-24 either in the service of their state or the United States.
2-25 However, to qualify for this exemption a person must be a citizen
2-26 of Texas, must demonstrate financial need as defined by the Texas
2-27 Higher Education Coordinating Board, and must have resided in the
3-1 state for at least 12 months immediately preceding the date of his
3-2 registration.
3-3 SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
3-4 amended by adding Section 54.211 to read as follows:
3-5 Sec. 54.211. EXEMPTIONS FOR STUDENTS IN FOSTER OR OTHER
3-6 RESIDENTIAL CARE. A student is exempt from the payment of tuition
3-7 and fees authorized in this chapter if the student:
3-8 (1) was in foster care or other residential care under
3-9 the conservatorship of the Department of Protective and Regulatory
3-10 Services on or after the day preceding the student's 18th birthday;
3-11 and
3-12 (2) enrolls in an institution of higher education as
3-13 an undergraduate student not later than the third anniversary of
3-14 the date the student was discharged from the foster or other
3-15 residential care.
3-16 SECTION 4. This Act applies to tuition, fees, and charges
3-17 beginning with the fall semester 1993.
3-18 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-23 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-24 passage, and it is so enacted.