By Truan                                         S.B. No. 565

      75R2348 CAG-F                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to exempting members of the Texas National Guard from

 1-3     tuition charged by an institution of higher education.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is

 1-6     amended by adding Section 54.2151 to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 54.2151.  NATIONAL GUARD EXEMPTION.  (a)  The governing

 1-8     board of each institution of higher education shall exempt an

 1-9     eligible member of the Texas National Guard from the payment of all

1-10     tuition.

1-11           (b)  To be eligible for an exemption under this section, a

1-12     person must:

1-13                 (1)  have resided in this state for the 12 months

1-14     immediately preceding the beginning of the semester or session for

1-15     which an exemption is sought;

1-16                 (2)  be a member of the Texas National Guard who has

1-17     attained the rank of E2-E8, WO1-CWO3, or O1-O4;

1-18                 (3)  maintain satisfactory performance as prescribed by

1-19     the adjutant general's department as a member in good standing of

1-20     the Texas National Guard for the entire semester or other academic

1-21     session for which an exemption is sought; and

1-22                 (4)  have enlisted or agreed to enlist for a period of

1-23     additional duty in the Texas National Guard as required under

1-24     Subsection (f).

 2-1           (c)  A person is not eligible for an exemption under this

 2-2     section if the person has previously received an exemption under

 2-3     this section for:

 2-4                 (1)  13 undergraduate semesters or other equivalent

 2-5     academic sessions; or

 2-6                 (2)  12 graduate semesters or other equivalent academic

 2-7     sessions.

 2-8           (d)  For purposes of Subsection (c), a summer term or other

 2-9     academic session that is less than nine weeks in duration is

2-10     considered one-half of a regular semester or equivalent academic

2-11     session.

2-12           (e)  A semester or other academic session in which the person

2-13     withdrew from or failed to complete the courses in which the person

2-14     was enrolled because the person was mobilized or called to active

2-15     duty in connection with the person's service as a member of the

2-16     Texas National Guard is not considered in determining the

2-17     eligibility of the person under Subsection (c) for an exemption.

2-18           (f)  A person who receives an exemption under this section

2-19     must enlist or agree to enlist for a two-year period of additional

2-20     duty in the Texas National Guard from the date of the last day of

2-21     the semester or other session for which an exemption is received.

2-22           (g)  In this section, "Texas National Guard" means the Texas

2-23     National Guard as defined and constituted under Chapter 431,

2-24     Government Code.

2-25           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect beginning with the fall

2-26     semester in 1997.

2-27           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

 3-1     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 3-2     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-3     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 3-4     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

 3-5     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

 3-6     passage, and it is so enacted.