82R25234 KYF-D

By: Lucio III, Patrick H.B. No. 2688

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to tuition and scholarships and fee exemptions for certain members of the armed services and certain military veterans attending institutions of higher education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 54.203, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (a-3) to read as follows:

(a-3) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(4), a person who meets the requirements of Subsection (a)(4), other than the requirement that the person must have served on active military duty for more than the stated number of days, is entitled to the exemption provided by Subsection (a)(4) regardless of the length of the member's active military duty if the person was a member of the Texas National Guard or the Texas Air National Guard who was assigned to a theater of combat operation with the armed forces of the United States.

SECTION 2. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding Subchapter S to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER S. ASSISTANCE FOR TUITION AND FEES FOR MEMBERS

OF TEXAS STATE GUARD

Sec. 56.501. PURPOSE. Because the Texas State Guard is the state's only organized, trained, and equipped military force under the direction of the governor available to respond to natural and man-made disasters, assistance for tuition and mandatory fees is provided under this subchapter to eligible members of the Texas State Guard to encourage voluntary membership, to improve the education level of its members, to diversify the composition of the forces, and to enhance the state's workforce.

Sec. 56.502. EXEMPTION. An institution of higher education shall exempt an eligible person from the payment of tuition and mandatory fees for the semester credit hours for which the person enrolls, not to exceed a total of 120 semester credit hours. If the person is not charged tuition at the rate provided for other Texas residents, the amount of the exemption may not exceed the amount of tuition the person would be charged as a Texas resident for the number of semester credit hours for which the person enrolls, not to exceed 120 semester credit hours.

Sec. 56.503. ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible to receive an exemption under this subchapter, a person must:

(1) be a member in good standing for at least one calendar year, as certified by the adjutant general, of the Texas State Guard; and

(2) commit to serve the Texas State Guard as follows:

(A) for an undergraduate program, eight years, four years of which must be served while enrolled in an institution of higher education and four years of which must be served following the period of enrollment; and

(B) for a graduate program, five years, two years of which must be served while enrolled in an institution of higher education and three years of which must be served following the period of enrollment.

Sec. 56.504. REPAYMENT. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule shall require a person who does not fulfill the commitment to serve in the Texas State Guard under Section 56.503(2) to repay the amount of all tuition and mandatory fees for which the person received an exemption under this subchapter to the institution of higher education from which the person received the exemption.

Sec. 56.505. RULES. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt rules as necessary for the administration of this subchapter.

SECTION 3. Section 61.9774(b), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The board by rule shall provide that:

(1) any amount paid to a student by a branch of the armed services of the United States during an academic year for which the student receives a scholarship under this subchapter because the student is under a contract with that branch shall be deducted from the amount of the scholarship awarded to the student for that academic year; and

(2) after a deduction under Subdivision (1) is made, the student is entitled to the remaining amount of the scholarship awarded to the student under this subchapter for that academic year, not to exceed the student's total cost of attendance for that academic year at the public or private institution of higher education in which the student is enrolled.

SECTION 4. The following provisions are repealed:

(1) Section 54.2155, Education Code; and

(2) Section 431.090, Government Code.

SECTION 5. (a) Section 54.203(a-3), Education Code, as added by this Act, applies beginning with tuition and fees at a public institution of higher education for the 2011 fall semester. Tuition and fees for a term or semester before the 2011 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 adopt rules for the administration of Subchapter S, Chapter 56, Education Code, as added by this Act, and Section 61.9774(b), Education Code, as amended by this Act, as soon as practicable after this Act takes effect. For that purpose, the coordinating board may adopt the rules in the manner provided by law for emergency rules.

SECTION 6. 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, 2011.