By Whitmire                                           S.B. No. 1134
       74R7071 JSA-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to an exemption from tuition and fees at a public
    1-3  institution of higher education for peace officers disabled in the
    1-4  line of duty.
    1-5        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-6        SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
    1-7  amended by adding Section 54.2041 to read as follows:
    1-8        Sec. 54.2041.  DISABLED PEACE OFFICERS.  (a)  A student at an
    1-9  institution of higher education is exempt from the payment of
   1-10  tuition and required fees authorized by this chapter for a term or
   1-11  semester if the student:
   1-12              (1)  on the day the semester or term begins is a
   1-13  resident of this state who has resided in this state continuously
   1-14  for the preceding 12 months;
   1-15              (2)  is permanently disabled as a result of an injury
   1-16  suffered during the performance of a duty while employed as a peace
   1-17  officer of this state or a political subdivision of this state; and
   1-18              (3)  is unable to continue employment as a peace
   1-19  officer because of the disability.
   1-20        (b)  A person may not receive an exemption under this section
   1-21  for more than 12 semesters or terms while enrolled in an
   1-22  undergraduate program or while attending only undergraduate
   1-23  courses.
   1-24        (c)  A person may not receive an exemption under this section
    2-1  while enrolled in a master's degree program or to attend
    2-2  postgraduate courses to meet the requirements of a master's degree
    2-3  program if the person has previously received a master's degree and
    2-4  received an exemption under this section for a semester during
    2-5  which the person attended a postgraduate course to meet the
    2-6  requirements of the master's program.
    2-7        (d)  A person may not receive an exemption under this section
    2-8  while enrolled in a doctoral degree program or to attend
    2-9  postgraduate courses to meet the requirements of a doctoral degree
   2-10  program if the person has previously received a doctoral degree and
   2-11  received an exemption under this section for a semester during
   2-12  which the person attended a postgraduate course to meet the
   2-13  requirements of the doctoral degree program.
   2-14        (e)  To receive an exemption under this section, a person
   2-15  must apply for the exemption in the manner provided by the
   2-16  institution in which the student registers.  The governing board of
   2-17  the institution shall require an applicant to submit satisfactory
   2-18  evidence that the applicant is eligible for the exemption.
   2-19        SECTION 2.  This Act applies beginning with tuition and
   2-20  required fees imposed for the fall semester of 1995.
   2-21        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-22  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-23  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-24  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-25  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   2-26  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   2-27  passage, and it is so enacted.