By Hupp                                                H.B. No. 439
         77R2574 KEL-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to exempting certain military personnel and their
 1-3     dependents from certain requirements of the Texas Academic Skills
 1-4     Program.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1.  Section 51.306(r), Education Code, is amended to
 1-7     read as follows:
 1-8           (r)  This section does not apply to:
 1-9                 (1)  a student who accumulated three or more
1-10     college-level semester credit hours prior to the 1989 fall
1-11     semester;
1-12                 (2)  a student located outside this state who enrolls
1-13     in a course offered outside this state by an institution of higher
1-14     education;
1-15                 (3)  a deaf student;
1-16                 (4)  a student who has graduated with a baccalaureate
1-17     degree from an institution of higher education, an accredited
1-18     private or independent institution of higher education, or an
1-19     accredited out-of-state institution of higher education;
1-20                 (5)  a student enrolled in a certificate program at a
1-21     community or technical college of one year or less; [or]
1-22                 (6)  a student who is a citizen of a country other than
1-23     the United States and is not seeking a degree; or
1-24                 (7)  a student who:
 2-1                       (A)  is a member of the United States armed
 2-2     forces or a dependent of a member of the United States armed
 2-3     forces; and
 2-4                       (B)  has accumulated fewer than 10 college-level
 2-5     semester credit hours at a public or private or independent
 2-6     institution of higher education.
 2-7           SECTION 2.  Section 51.3061(g), Education Code, is amended to
 2-8     read as follows:
 2-9           (g)  This section does not apply to a student who:
2-10                 (1)  is enrolled in a certificate program of one year
2-11     or less; or
2-12                 (2)  is a member of the United States armed forces or a
2-13     dependent of a member of the United States armed forces and has
2-14     accumulated fewer than 10 college-level semester credit hours at a
2-15     public or private or independent institution of higher education.
2-16           SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies
2-17     beginning with the 2001 fall semester.
2-18           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
2-19     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
2-20     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
2-21     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
2-22     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.