79R1749 JRJ-D


By:  Guillen, Chavez, Castro, et al.                              H.B. No. 503



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to tuition and fee exemptions for certain military 
personnel and certain children of those personnel.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 54.203(a), Education Code, is amended to 
read as follows:
	(a)  The governing board of each institution of higher 
education shall exempt the following persons from the payment of 
all dues, fees, and charges, including fees for correspondence 
courses but excluding property deposit fees, student services fees, 
and any fees or charges for lodging, board, or clothing, provided 
the persons seeking the exemptions were citizens of Texas at the 
time they entered the services indicated and have resided in Texas 
for at least the period of 12 months before the date of 
registration:
		(1)  all nurses and honorably discharged members of the 
armed forces of the United States who served during the 
Spanish-American War or during World War I;
		(2)  all nurses, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary 
Corps, members of the Women's Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency 
Service, and all honorably discharged members of the armed forces 
of the United States who served during World War II except those who 
were discharged from service because they were over the age of 38 or 
because of a personal request on the part of the person that he be 
discharged from service;
		(3)  all honorably discharged men and women of the 
armed forces of the United States who served during the national 
emergency which began on June 27, 1950, and which is referred to as 
the Korean War; and
		(4)  all persons who were honorably discharged from the 
armed forces of the United States after serving on active military 
duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days and who served a 
portion of their active duty during:
			(A)  the Cold War which began on the date of the 
termination of the national emergency cited in Subdivision (3) of 
this subsection;
			(B)  the Vietnam era which began on December 21, 
1961, and ended on May 7, 1975;
			(C)  the Grenada and Lebanon era which began on 
August 24, 1982, and ended on July 31, 1984;
			(D)  the Panama era which began on December 20, 
1989, and ended on January 21, 1990;
			(E)  the Persian Gulf War which began on August 2, 
1990, and ends on the date thereafter prescribed by Presidential 
proclamation or September 1, 1997, whichever occurs first; [or]
			(F)  the national emergency by reason of certain 
terrorist attacks that began on September 11, 2001; or
			(G)  any future national emergency declared in 
accordance with federal law.
	SECTION 2.  Section 54.203, Education Code, as amended by 
this Act, applies beginning with tuition and other fees charged for 
the 2005 fall semester.  Tuition and other fees charged for an 
academic period before the 2005 fall semester are covered by the law 
in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the 
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	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, 2005.