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