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H.B. No. 261
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility of armed forces personnel and their
family members to pay tuition and fees at the rate provided to Texas
residents.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.058, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c), (f), and (g) and adding Subsection (j) to
read as follows:
(c) The [As long as they reside continuously in Texas, the]
spouse or child [and children] of a member of the Armed Forces of
the United States who has been assigned to duty elsewhere
immediately following assignment to duty in Texas is [are] entitled
to pay the tuition fees and other fees or charges provided for Texas
residents as long as the spouse or child resides continuously in
Texas.
(f) The spouse or child [and children] of a member of the
Armed Forces of the United States who dies or is killed is [are]
entitled to pay the resident tuition fee if the spouse or child
becomes a resident [wife and children become residents] of Texas
within 60 days of the date of death.
(g) If a member of the Armed Forces of the United States is
stationed outside Texas and the member's [his] spouse or child
establishes [and children establish] residence in Texas by residing
in Texas and by filing with the Texas institution of higher
education at which the spouse or child plans [they plan] to register
a letter of intent to establish residence in Texas, the institution
of higher education shall permit the spouse or child [and children]
to pay the tuition, fees, and other charges provided for Texas
residents without regard to length of time that the spouse or child
has [they have] resided in Texas [the state].
(j) A member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the
child or spouse of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States
who is entitled to pay tuition and fees at the rate provided for
Texas residents under another provision of this section while
enrolled in a degree or certificate program is entitled to pay
tuition and fees at the rate provided for Texas residents in any
subsequent term or semester while the person is continuously
enrolled in the same degree or certificate program. For purposes of
this subsection, a person is not required to enroll in a summer term
to remain continuously enrolled in a degree or certificate program.
The person's eligibility to pay tuition and fees at the rate
provided for Texas residents under this subsection does not
terminate because the person is no longer a member of the Armed
Forces of the United States or the child or spouse of a member of the
Armed Forces of the United States.
SECTION 2. (a) Section 54.058(j), as added by this Act,
applies beginning with the 2003 fall semester to a person who was a
member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the child or
spouse of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States entitled
to pay tuition and fees at the rate provided for Texas residents
under Section 54.058, Education Code, while enrolled in a degree or
certificate program at a public institution of higher education in
this state in the 2003 spring semester or in any term of the 2003
summer session.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act to Subsections (c),
(f), and (g), Section 54.058, Education Code, apply beginning with
tuition charged for the 2003 fall semester.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 261 was passed by the House on April
24, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 2 present not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 261 on May 23, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 135, Nays 0, 2
present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 261 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 21, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor