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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