S.B. No. 639
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of
  higher education for certain military personnel, veterans, and
  dependents residing in this state.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 54.203, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a), (d), (k), (l), and (m) and adding
  Subsections (a-3), (k-1), and (n) to read as follows:
         (a)  The governing board of each institution of higher
  education shall exempt the following persons from the payment of
  tuition, 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 seeking the exemption currently
  resides in this state and 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:
               (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 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);
                     (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-3)  A person who before the 2011-2012 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, 2011, subject to the other
  provisions of this section other than the requirement of Subsection
  (a) that the person must currently reside in this state.
         (d)  The governing board of each institution of higher
  education granting an exemption under this section shall require
  each [every] applicant claiming the exemption to submit to the
  institution an application for the exemption and satisfactory
  evidence that the applicant qualifies for the exemption not later
  than one year after the earlier of the date the institution:
               (1)  provides written notice to the applicant of the
  applicant's eligibility for the exemption; or
               (2)  receives a written acknowledgement from the
  applicant evidencing the applicant's awareness of the applicant's
  eligibility for the exemption.
         (k)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule
  shall prescribe procedures to allow:
               (1)  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;
  and
               (2)  following the death of a person who becomes
  eligible for an exemption provided by Subsection (a), the
  assignment of the exemption for the unused portion of the credit
  hours to a child of the person, to be made by the person's spouse or
  by the conservator, guardian, custodian, or other legally
  designated caretaker of the child, if the child does not otherwise
  qualify for an exemption under Subsection (b).
         (k-1)  The procedures under Subsection (k) must [shall]
  provide:
               (1)  the manner in which a person may waive the
  exemption;
               (2)  the manner in which [and designate] a child may be
  designated to receive the exemption;
               (3) [(2)]  a procedure permitting the designation of
  [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
               (4) [(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; and
               (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 the person is 25 years of age or younger on the
  first day of the semester or other academic term for which the
  exemption is claimed and:
               (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.
         (n)  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 the age
  described by Subsection (m) 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.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 54.2031 to read as follows:
         Sec. 54.2031.  DEPENDENT CHILDREN OF RESIDENTS WHO ARE
  MEMBERS OF ARMED FORCES DEPLOYED ON COMBAT DUTY.  (a)  In this
  section:
               (1)  "Child" includes a stepchild or adopted child.
               (2)  "Dependent" means a person who:
                     (A)  is claimed as a dependent on a federal income
  tax return filed for the preceding year; or
                     (B)  will be claimed as a dependent on a federal
  income tax return filed for the current year.
         (b)  The governing board of an institution of higher
  education shall exempt from the payment of tuition at the
  institution a dependent child of a member of the armed forces of the
  United States who is a resident of this state or is entitled to pay
  resident tuition under this chapter, for any semester or other
  academic term during which the member of the armed forces is
  deployed on active duty for the purpose of engaging in a combative
  military operation outside the United States.
         (c)  The governing board of an institution of higher
  education granting an exemption under this section shall require
  each applicant claiming the exemption to submit satisfactory
  evidence that the applicant qualifies for the exemption.
         (d)  A person may not receive an exemption provided for by
  this section for more than a cumulative total of 150 semester credit
  hours.
         (e)  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.
         (f)  In determining whether to admit a person to any
  certificate program or any baccalaureate, graduate, postgraduate,
  or professional degree program, an institution of higher education
  may not consider the fact that the person is eligible for an
  exemption under this section.
         (g)  In its appropriations to institutions of higher
  education, the legislature shall, based on availability, provide
  sufficient money to cover the full costs of the exemptions provided
  for by this section.
         (h)  If sufficient money is not available to cover the full
  costs to the institutions of higher education of the exemptions
  provided for by this section, the Texas Higher Education
  Coordinating Board shall prorate the available funding to each
  institution for purposes of this section in proportion to the total
  amount the institution would otherwise be entitled to receive for
  purposes of this section.  An institution is required to grant an
  exemption from the payment of tuition under this section only to the
  extent money is available for that purpose.
         (i)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may adopt
  rules necessary to administer this section.
         SECTION 3.  Subsection (b-2), Section 54.203, Education
  Code, is repealed.
         SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act applies
  beginning with tuition and fees 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.
         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, 2011.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 639 passed the Senate on
  April 7, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
  the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 23, 2011, by the
  following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 639 passed the House, with
  amendment, on May 19, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 148,
  Nays 0, one present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor