By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 845

(In the Senate - Filed February 13, 2009; March 4, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Higher Education; April 15, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 15, 2009, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 845 By: Patrick

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the tuition and fee exemption available to certain military personnel and their dependents and to 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), (b), (b-1), (d), and (g) and adding Subsections (a-1), (k), (l), and (m) to read as follows:

(a) The governing board of each institution of higher education shall exempt the following persons from the payment of tuition, [all] dues, fees, and other required charges, including fees for correspondence courses but excluding general 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, declared this state as the person's home of record in the manner provided by the applicable military or other service, or would have been determined to be a resident of this state for purposes of Subchapter B at the time the person entered the service [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 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.

(a-1) A person who before the 2009-2010 academic year received an exemption provided by Subsection (a) continues to be eligible for the exemption provided by that subsection as that subsection existed on January 1, 2009, subject to the other provisions of this section other than the requirement of Subsection (a) that the person must have entered the service at a location in this state, declared this state as the person's home of record, or would have been determined to be a resident of this state for purposes of Subchapter B at the time the person entered the service.

(b) The exemptions provided for in Subsection (a) [of this section] also apply [and inure] to [the benefit of]:

(1) the children of members of the armed forces of the United States:

(A) who are or were killed in action;

(B) who die or died while in service;

(C) who are missing in action;

(D) whose death is documented to be directly caused by illness or injury connected with service in the armed forces of the United States; or

(E) who became totally disabled for purposes of employability according to the disability ratings of the Department of Veterans Affairs as a result of a service-related injury; and

(2) the [orphans or] children of members of the Texas National Guard and the Texas Air National Guard who:

(A) were killed since January 1, 1946, while on active duty either in the service of their state or the United States; or

(B) are totally disabled for purposes of employability according to the disability ratings of the Department of Veterans Affairs, regardless of whether the members are eligible to receive disability benefits from the department, as a result of a service-related injury suffered since January 1, 1946, while on active duty either in the service of this state or the United States.

(b-1) To qualify for an exemption under Subsection (b), a child [person must be a citizen of Texas and] must be classified as a resident under Subchapter B on [have resided in the state for at least 12 months immediately preceding] the date of the child's [person's] registration.

(d) The governing board of each institution of higher education granting an exemption under this section [exemptions] shall require every applicant claiming the [benefit of an] exemption to submit satisfactory evidence that the applicant qualifies for [he fulfills] the exemption [necessary citizenship and residency requirements].

(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) 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 a child of the person. 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 child to receive the exemption.

(l) To be eligible to receive an exemption under Subsection (k), the child must:

(1) be a student who is classified as a resident under Subchapter B when the child enrolls in an institution of higher education;

(2) make satisfactory academic progress in a degree, certificate, or continuing education program as determined by the institution at which the child is enrolled in accordance with the policy of the institution's financial aid department, except that the institution may not require the child 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 Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule shall prescribe procedures by which a child who suffered from a severe illness or other debilitating condition that affected the child's ability to use the exemption before reaching that age may be granted additional time to use the exemption corresponding to the time the child was unable to use the exemption because of the illness or condition.

(m) For purposes of this section, a person is the child of another person if:

(1) the person is the stepchild or the biological or adopted child of the other person; or

(2) the other person claimed the person as a dependent on a federal income tax return filed for the preceding year or will claim the person as a dependent on a federal income tax return for the current year.

SECTION 3. Subsections (e) and (e-1), Section 54.203, Education Code, as amended by Chapters 443 (H.B. 125) and 1334 (S.B. 1640), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, are reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(e) The exemption from tuition, fees, and other charges provided for by this section [in Subsection (a)] does not apply to a person who at the time of registration is entitled to receive educational benefits under federal legislation that may be used only for the payment of tuition and fees if the value of those benefits received in a semester or other term is equal to or exceeds the value of the exemption for the same semester or other term. If the value of federal benefits that may be used only for the payment of tuition and fees and are received in a semester or other term does not equal or exceed the value of the exemption for the same semester or other term, the person is entitled to receive both those federal benefits [the federal benefit] and the exemption in the same semester or other term. The combined amount of the federal benefit that may be used only for the payment of tuition and fees plus the amount of the exemption received in a semester or other term may not exceed the cost of tuition and fees for that semester or other term. [A person is covered by the exemption if the person's right to benefits under federal legislation is extinguished at the time of the person's registration, except that a person may not receive an exemption from fees under this section if the person's right to benefits under federal 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.]

(e-1) A person may not receive an exemption under this section if the person is in default on a loan made or guaranteed for educational purposes by the State of Texas.

SECTION 4. (a) Section 54.203, Education Code, as amended by this Act, applies beginning with tuition and other fees charged for the 2009 fall semester. If a person who becomes eligible for an exemption in that semester under that section has paid the tuition and other fees for that semester to which the exemption applies, the institution of higher education shall refund to the student the amount of the tuition and fees paid by the person in the amount of the exemption. Tuition and other fees charged for an academic period before the 2009 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.

(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 5. 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, 2009.

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