MMA C.S.H.B. 269 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS HIGHER EDUCATION C.S.H.B. 269 By: Counts 4-27-97 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND Members of Texas state military forces continuously serve the citizens and communities of Texas and the United States at home and abroad. In our hi-tech environment, military members have greater educational demands placed upon them to possess the skills to operate and maintain the highly technical military equipment of today. Therefore, in order to attract and retain highly qualified personnel there is a need to provide tuition assistance for their higher education. PURPOSE C.S.H.B. 269 allows for certain eligible members of Texas state military forces to receive a tuition exemption to attend state supported schools. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does expressly grant additional rulemaking authority to the Adjutant General in Section 1 [(Sec. 54.2125, subsection (e) and referred to in (b)(3)]. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, by adding Section 54.2125 to read as follows: Sec. 54.2125. TEXAS STATE MILITARY FORCES EXEMPTION. (a) Authorizes the governing board of each institution of higher education to exempt eligible members of Texas state military forces from the payment of all tuition. (b) Provides the criteria for eligibility as follows: (1) Texas residency 12 months prior to the semester or session for which exemption is sought; (2) maintain satisfactory performance as prescribed by adjutant general's department; (3) enlist or agree to enlist for a period of additional duty as required by rule under Subsection (e); and (4) be selected to receive an exemption by a method determined by the adjutant general. (c) States that a person is not eligible if the person has: (1) received an exemption for 12 semesters or the equivalent; or (2) obtained a postgraduate or professional degree. (d) States that if the person withdrew or failed to complete the course due to mobilization or being called to active duty, Subsection (c) (1) is not a factor in determining eligibility. (e) Requires the adjutant general to establish by rule a reasonable period of additional duty or enlistment for each semester exemption received. (f) Prohibits the adjutant general from authorizes more than 675 exemptions for any semester or term. Caps the number of exemptions for the Texas State Guard members at 50 members. Mandates that the adjutant general make available the remaining exemptions not used for Texas State Guard members to eligible members of the Texas National Guard. Provides that only members of the Texas National Guard holding a specific rank may receive an exemption. (g) Defines "state military forces," "Texas National Guard," and "Texas State Guard." SECTION 2. Effective date: fall semester, 1997. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 269 changes the Section title from "NATIONAL GUARD EXEMPTION" to "TEXAS STATE MILITARY FORCES EXEMPTION," and deletes references to the Texas National Guard and replaces it with Texas state military forces to allow members of the Texas State Guard to also participate of the exemptions. C.S.H.B. 269 replaces the word "shall" with "may" in Section 54.2125(a) of the original bill to make the exemptions permissive. C.S.H.B. 269 adds Subdivision (4) to Subsection (b), Section 54.2125 to further clarify that the Adjutant General will establish a method to determine which members are eligible to receive tuition exemptions. C.S.H.B. 269 adds a new Subsection (f) to Section 54.2125 which caps the total number of tuition exemptions that can be granted for a semester at 675. Also caps the number of tuition exemptions for Texas State Guard members at 50. Specifies that only members of the Texas National Guard within certain ranks can be granted exemptions. C.S.H.B. 269 adds to Subsection (g) "state military forces" and "Texas State Guard" in addition to "Texas National Guard."