By:  Turner                                            S.B. No. 505
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to full tuition exemption and partial lodging and board
    1-2  fees exemption for Texas Army National Guard/ROTC students.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Chapter 54, Education Code, is amended by adding
    1-5  new Section 54.212, to read as follows:
    1-6        Sec. 54.212.  Texas Army National Guard/ROTC Students
    1-7        (a)  In this section:
    1-8              (1)  "exempt student" means a student who meets all the
    1-9  requirements of Subsections (d) and (f).
   1-10              (2)  "ROTC institution" means an institution of higher
   1-11  education, as defined by Sec. 61.003 of this code, that maintains
   1-12  an Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC).
   1-13              (3)  "tuition fees" includes all dues, fees and
   1-14  enrollment charges whatsoever for which exemptions may be lawfully
   1-15  made, including correspondence courses, general property deposit
   1-16  fees, and student services fees, but does not include fees or
   1-17  charges for lodging, board, or clothing.
   1-18        (b)  The governing boards of ROTC institutions shall, for a
   1-19  period not to exceed four years, annually exempt from the payment
   1-20  of tuition fees a student selected by the ROTC institution's
   1-21  selection committee to receive such an exemption.
   1-22        (c)  A student selected to receive an exemption from tuition
   1-23  fees shall be exempt from the ROTC institution's fees and charges
    2-1  for lodging and board for the first two years of enrollment.
    2-2        (d)  A student who is selected to receive an exemption under
    2-3  Subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall be required to:
    2-4              (1)  be admitted to the institution's Army Reserve
    2-5  Officers' Training Corps program, or be a participant in such a
    2-6  program;
    2-7              (2)  become a member of the Texas Army National Guard
    2-8  from the date of enrollment through completion of the degree
    2-9  program;
   2-10              (3)  possess and maintain from the date of enrollment
   2-11  through completion of the degree program the academic and personal
   2-12  conduct standards established by each ROTC institution;
   2-13              (4)  maintain a minimum full-time enrollment of twelve
   2-14  credit hours each semester, including military science courses; and
   2-15              (5)  accept a commission in the Texas Army National
   2-16  Guard as a second lieutenant upon graduation from the ROTC
   2-17  institution and serve no less than four years as a commissioned
   2-18  officer.
   2-19        (e)(1)  No more than two hundred and fifty students shall be
   2-20  exempt under this section for any one semester.  The Texas Higher
   2-21  Education Coordinating Board, after consultation with
   2-22  representatives of the governing boards of ROTC institutions, shall
   2-23  formulate and prescribe a plan governing the selection of students
   2-24  desiring to qualify for exemption under this section and the
   2-25  allocation of the exemptions available to each ROTC institution.
    3-1              (2)  The maximum number of exempt students for each
    3-2  ROTC institution will be determined by the percentage of the
    3-3  institution's Army ROTC enrollment in relation to statewide Army
    3-4  ROTC enrollment.  Percentages shall be calculated every odd
    3-5  numbered year, beginning September 1, 1995.  In the event an ROTC
    3-6  institution does not recruit its maximum percentage of exempt
    3-7  students, the Texas Higher Education Coordination Board shall be
    3-8  informed by the ROTC institutions of the number of excess
    3-9  exemptions and shall allocate excess exemptions to ROTC
   3-10  institutions which have attained maximum recruiting percentages but
   3-11  have additional students who are qualified under Subsection (f) to
   3-12  receive the exemption.
   3-13        (f)  Selection committees consisting of three ROTC
   3-14  institution representatives designated by the commissioner of
   3-15  higher education, one of whom shall be a military science faculty
   3-16  member, and a commissioned officer of the Texas Army National Guard
   3-17  appointed by the adjutant general shall be established at ROTC
   3-18  institutions to review applications of students who have applied
   3-19  for the exemption, and to determine which students qualify to
   3-20  receive the exemption set forth in the section.  Selection of
   3-21  qualified students shall be based upon the following factors:
   3-22              (1)  individual qualifications, with emphasis on the
   3-23  leadership, communication and organizational abilities and skills
   3-24  required of commissioned officers;
   3-25              (2)  the state's ethnic, racial and gender diversity;
    4-1  and
    4-2              (3)  projected staffing requirements for the Texas
    4-3  National Guard.
    4-4        (g)  Except in the case of an exempt student who is called
    4-5  into active military service under Section 431.111 Government Code,
    4-6  during the student's enrollment at an ROTC institution, exemption
    4-7  from tuition fees shall be limited to four years, and exemption
    4-8  from lodging and board fees and charges shall be limited to the
    4-9  first two years of enrollment at the institution.  Extensions of
   4-10  exemption shall be granted for periods of active military duty
   4-11  required of the student which occur during the student's four year
   4-12  exemption period.
   4-13        (h)  In the event a student fails to maintain exempt status
   4-14  as set forth in Subsection (b) of this section, the student shall
   4-15  be required to either:
   4-16              (1)  serve four years as an enlisted member of the
   4-17  Texas Army National Guard; or
   4-18              (2)  repay to the state of Texas the amount of the
   4-19  exemption received for tuition fees, lodging and board charges and
   4-20  fees, received by the student.  Repayment must be completed within
   4-21  five years after the date of the act or circumstance that resulted
   4-22  in the student's ineligibility.
   4-23              (3)  the student's option shall be subject to approval
   4-24  by the selection committee of the student's ROTC institution.
   4-25        SECTION 2.  The exemptions authorized under this section
    5-1  shall be available beginning the 1996-97 academic year.
    5-2        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
    5-3  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    5-4  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    5-5  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    5-6  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.