BILL ANALYSIS


                                                     C.S.S.B. 505
                                                       By: Turner
                                                 Veterans Affairs
                                                          4-13-95
                                   Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND

Although the military is downsizing, there is still a need to
ensure a supply of qualified officers for duty in Reserve and
National Guard units.  Texas ROTC programs that are fully staffed
may be less likely to get cut by Washington.  Military officials
say they expect ROTC programs to continue to produce 50 to 75
percent of the officers for reserve and active military units.  The
demand for Reserve and National Guard officers may be even greater
in the future as the size of the active military is reduced. 
Developing a scholarship program may attract diverse, new officers
for the Texas Army National Guard.

PURPOSE

As proposed, C.S.S.B. 505 exempts Texas Army National Guard/ROTC
students fully from tuition and partly from lodging and board fees.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or
agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 54D, Education Code, by adding Section
54.212, as follows:

     Sec. 54.212. TEXAS ARMY NATIONAL GUARD/ROTC STUDENTS. (a)
     Defines "exempt student," "exemption," "ROTC institution," and
     "tuition fees."
     
     (b) Requires the governing boards of ROTC institutions to
       exempt from the tuition fees for up to four years a student
       selected by the ROTC institution's selection committee. 
       Requires participating ROTC institutions to receive
       reimbursement for exempted tuition fees, lodging, and board
       from appropriations made by the legislature.
       
       (c) Requires a selected student to be exempt from the ROTC
       institution's fees and charges for lodging and board for the
       first two years of enrollment.
       
       (d) Sets forth requirements for a student who is selected to
       receive tuition and lodging exemptions.
       
       (e)(1) Requires a maximum of 150 students to be selected
       each academic year to receive an exemption.  Requires the
       Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (coordinating
       board), after consultation with representatives of the
       governing boards of ROTC institutions and the adjutant
       general, to formulate and prescribe a plan governing the
       selection of students for exemption and the allocation of
       the exemptions available to each ROTC institution.
       
       (2) Requires the adjutant general and each participating
         ROTC institution to make special efforts to recruit
         students for the program that reflect Texas' ethnic,
         gender, and racial diversity.
         
         (3) Sets forth the procedure for determining the number of
         exempt students.  Requires the coordinating board, in the
         event an ROTC institution does not recruit its maximum
         percentage of exempt students, to be informed by the ROTC
         institutions of the number of excess exemptions and to
         allocate excess exemptions to ROTC institutions which have
         attained maximum recruiting percentages but have
         additional students who are qualified under Subsection (f)
         to receive the exemption.
         
         (f) Requires selection committees consisting of three ROTC
       institution representatives designated by the commissioner
       of higher education, one of whom shall be a military science
       faculty member, and a commissioned officer of the Texas Army
       National Guard appointed by the adjutant general to be
       established at ROTC institutions to review applications of
       students who have applied for the exemption, and to
       determine which students qualify to receive the exemption
       set forth in the section. Sets forth qualifications on which
       the selection of students is required to be based.
       
       (g) Requires exemption from tuition fees to be limited to
       four years and exemption from lodging and board fees and
       charges to be limited to the first two years of enrollment
       at the institution. Requires extensions of exemption to be
       granted for periods of active military duty required of the
       student which occur during the student's four-year exemption
       period.
       
       (h) Sets forth requirements for a student who fails to
       maintain exempt status.
       
       SECTION 2.   Requires the exemptions authorized under this section
to be available beginning the 1996-97 academic year.

SECTION 3. Provides that implementation of the exemption program
is contingent upon appropriations being made by the legislature for
the specific purposes of the program.

SECTION 4. Emergency clause.
           Effective date: 90 days after adjournment.