By: Van de Putte, Uresti, Shapleigh S.B. No. 874
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the tuition and fee exemption available to certain
  military personnel and permitting those personnel to transfer the
  exemption to a child.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  This Act shall be known as the "Hazlewood Legacy
  Act."
         SECTION 2.  Section 54.203, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a), (e), and (g) and adding Subsections (k)
  and (l) 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 person [persons] seeking the exemption [exemptions were
  citizens of Texas at the time they] entered the service at a
  location in this state or when the person was a resident of this
  state determined in the same manner as residency is determined
  under Subchapter B [services indicated] and is a resident of this
  state under Subchapter B [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 the
  person [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;
                     (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.
         (e)  The exemptions [exemption from fees] provided for by
  this section do [in Subsection (a) of this section does] not apply
  to a person who, [if] at the time of [his] registration, [he] is
  eligible for educational benefits under federal law [legislation in
  effect at the time of his registration] if the value of those
  benefits is equal to or exceeds the value of the exemption.  If the
  value of the federal benefits does not equal or exceed the value of
  the exemption, [except that] the person must first utilize the
  federal benefit, [for which he is eligible] and the combined amount
  of the federal benefit plus the amount of the exemption may [this
  waiver shall] not exceed the maximum value of the exemption 
  [waiver]. A person is covered by the exemptions if the person's
  [his] right to benefits under federal law [legislation] is
  extinguished at the time of [his] registration, except that a
  person is not eligible for an exemption from fees under this section
  if the person's right to benefits under federal law [legislation]
  is extinguished because the person is in default of repayment of a
  loan made to the person under a federal program to provide or
  guarantee loans for educational purposes. A person is not eligible
  for an [the] exemption under this section if the person is in
  default on a loan made or guaranteed for educational purposes by the
  State of Texas.
         (g)  The governing board of a junior college district may
  establish a fee for extraordinary costs associated with a specific
  course or program and may provide that the exemptions provided by
  this section [Subsections (a) and (b)] do not apply to this fee.
         (k)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule
  shall prescribe procedures to allow a person who becomes eligible
  for an exemption provided by Subsection (a) and has used all the
  person's federal benefits as required by Subsection (e) to waive
  the person's right to any unused portion of the maximum number of
  cumulative credit hours for which the person could receive the
  exemption and assign the exemption for the unused portion of those
  credit hours to one of the person's children. The procedures shall
  provide:
               (1)  the manner in which a person may waive the
  exemption and designate a child to receive the exemption;
               (2)  a procedure permitting the person to designate a
  different child to receive the exemption if the child previously
  designated to receive the exemption did not use the exemption under
  this section for all of the assigned portion of credit hours; and
               (3)  a method of documentation to enable institutions
  of higher education to determine the eligibility of the designated
  person to receive the exemption.
         (l)  To be eligible to receive an exemption under Subsection
  (k), a person must:
               (1)  be a student who is classified as a resident under
  Subchapter B when the person enrolls in an institution of higher
  education;
               (2)  make satisfactory academic progress toward a
  degree or certificate as determined by the institution at which the
  person is enrolled in accordance with the policy of the
  institution's financial aid department, except that the
  institution may not require the person to enroll in a minimum course
  load; and
               (3)  be 25 years of age or younger on the first day of
  the semester or other academic term for which the exemption is
  claimed, except that the coordinating board by rule shall prescribe
  procedures by which a person who suffered from a severe illness or
  other debilitating condition that affected the person's ability to
  use the exemption before reaching that age may be granted
  additional time to use the exemption corresponding to the time the
  person was unable to use the exemption because of the illness or
  condition.
         SECTION 3.  (a)  Section 54.203, Education Code, as amended
  by this Act, applies beginning with tuition and other fees charged
  for the 2008 spring semester. Tuition and other fees charged for an
  academic period before the 2008 spring 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.
         (b)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
  prescribe the procedures required by Subsections (k) and (l),
  Section 54.203, Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as
  practicable after the effective date of this Act.  For that purpose,
  the coordinating board may adopt the initial rules prescribing
  those procedures in the manner provided by law for emergency rules.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.