By Carter, et al.                                      H.B. No. 459
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to higher education tuition and fee exemptions for
 1-3     children of dead or disabled firefighters or peace officers.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Section 54.204(a)(1), Education Code, is amended
 1-6     to read as follows:
 1-7                 (1)  "Eligible employee" means a full-paid or volunteer
 1-8     firefighter [fireman], or a full-paid municipal, county, or state
 1-9     peace officer, or a custodial employee of the Texas Department of
1-10     Corrections, or a game warden[, who has a child under 21 years of
1-11     age].
1-12           SECTION 2. Section 54.204, Education Code, is amended by
1-13     amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read
1-14     as follows:
1-15           (c)  A person is not entitled to the exemption if the person
1-16     [he]:
1-17                 (1)  does not apply initially for the exemption before
1-18     the date the person:
1-19                       (A)  [he] becomes 21 years of age, if the person
1-20     is not covered by Paragraph (B); or
1-21                       (B)  becomes 22 years of age, if the person is
1-22     eligible to participate in a school district's special education
1-23     program under Section 29.003;
1-24                 (2)  does not meet all entrance requirements of the
 2-1     institution; [or]
 2-2                 (3)  does not maintain a scholastic average sufficient
 2-3     to remain in good standing; or
 2-4                 (4)  does not establish financial need as determined by
 2-5     coordinating board rule.
 2-6           (d)  Subject to Subsection (e), a [A] person may receive
 2-7     [loses his right to] an exemption only for the first 120
 2-8     undergraduate semester credit hours [after eight consecutive
 2-9     semesters, not including summer semesters, beginning with the first
2-10     semester] for which the person [he] registers.
2-11           (e)  A person is not entitled to an exemption for any term or
2-12     semester the person begins after the date the person becomes 26
2-13     years of age.
2-14           SECTION 3. (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
2-15     only to a person who applies for an exemption from dues, fees, and
2-16     charges under Section 54.204, Education Code, on or after the
2-17     effective date.
2-18           (b)  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote
2-19     of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided
2-20     by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this Act does
2-21     not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes
2-22     effect September 1, 2001.