BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 38

By: Corte

Defense & Veterans' Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Currently, veterans who are not Texans who want to attend a public college or university in Texas are required to pay out-of-state tuition and fees until they have lived in Texas for one year. Non-Texas veterans who may be interested in settling in Texas could be hesitant to attend college here because of the out-of-state tuition costs. Expanding in-state tuition benefits to all military veterans and their families would deliver support to veterans while helping strengthen Texas' economy by attracting and keeping talent in the state and is a fitting way to recognize those who have served our country.

C.S.H.B. 38 allows veterans and their families to pay in-state tuition and fees without regard to the length of time they have resided in Texas. It is the intent of this legislation to draw more veterans to Texas with the hope that veterans and their families will remain in the state once their education is finished.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in SECTIONS 1 and 3 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 38 amends the Education Code to entitle a person to pay tuition and fees at an institution of higher education at the rates provided for Texas residents without regard to the length of time the person has resided in Texas if the person files with the institution at which the person intends to register a letter of intent to establish residence in Texas and resides in Texas while enrolled in the institution and the person is: eligible for benefits under the federal Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 or any other federal law authorizing educational benefits for veterans; the spouse of a person who is eligible for such benefits; or a child, including a step-child, of a person who is eligible for such benefits who is 25 years of age or younger on the first day of the semester or other academic term for which the person is registering, with the exception that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule shall prescribe procedures by which a child or step-child who suffered from a severe illness or other debilitating condition that affected the person's ability to use the benefit provided by the bill before reaching the age of 25 may be granted additional time to use the benefit corresponding to the time the person was unable to use the benefit because of the illness or condition. The bill defines "child" to include a stepchild.

C.S.H.B. 38 makes its provisions applicable beginning with tuition and other fees charged for the 2009 fall semester.

C.S.H.B. 38 requires the coordinating board to adopt rules for the delayed use of such benefits as soon as practicable. The bill authorizes the coordinating board to adopt the initial rules in the manner provided by law for emergency rules.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the act does not receive the necessary vote, the act takes effect September 1, 2009.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 38 omits a provision in the original that removed certain residency requirements for a military veteran who has retired or been honorably discharged and the veteran's spouse or dependent child to qualify for resident tuition and fees at a public institution of higher education in the state for a term or semester that begins before the first anniversary of the veteran's separation from the armed forces. The substitute adds qualifications, not in the original, for resident tuition for a veteran and certain family members requiring the person to file a letter of intent to establish residence, to live in Texas while enrolled in the institution and to be eligible for or be the spouse, child, or step-child of a person eligible for federal educational benefits for veterans. The substitute adds a provision, not in the original, requiring the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule to prescribe procedures by which a certain child who suffered from a severe illness or other debilitating condition that affected the person's ability to use the benefit provided by the bill before reaching the age of 25 may be granted additional time to use the benefit corresponding to the time the person was unable to use the benefit because of the illness or condition and requiring the board to adopt the rules in a certain manner.