78R2276 JRJ-D


By:  Miller, Hupp, Delisi, et al.                                 H.B. No. 405



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to resident tuition for military personnel and their 
dependents.   
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Sections 54.058(c), (d), (f), and (g), Education 
Code, are amended 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.
	(d)  A spouse or dependent child of a member of the Armed 
Forces of the United States, who is not assigned to duty in Texas 
but who has previously resided in Texas for a six-month period, is 
entitled to pay the tuition fees and other fees or charges provided 
for Texas residents for any [a] term or semester at an institution 
of higher education if the member:
		(1)  at least one year preceding the first day of the 
term or semester executed a document with the applicable military 
service that is in effect on the first day of the term or semester 
and that:
			(A)  indicates that the member's permanent 
residence address is in Texas;  and
			(B)  designates Texas as the member's place of 
legal residence for income tax purposes;
		(2)  has been registered to vote in Texas for the entire 
year preceding the first day of the term or semester; and
		(3)  satisfies at least one of the following 
requirements:                  
			(A)  for the entire year preceding the first day 
of the term or semester has owned real property in Texas and in that 
time has not been delinquent in the payment of any taxes on the 
property;
			(B)  has had an automobile registered in Texas for 
the entire year preceding the first day of the term or semester; or
			(C)  at least one year preceding the first day of 
the term or semester executed a will that has not been revoked or 
superseded indicating that the member is a resident of this state 
and deposited the will with the county clerk of the county of the 
member's residence under  Section 71, Texas Probate Code.
	(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].
	SECTION 2.  Section 54.058, Education Code, as amended by 
this Act, applies 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.