By: Uresti S.B. No. 966

(In the Senate - Filed February 25, 2011; March 8, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations; March 21, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; March 21, 2011, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 966 By: Rodriguez

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to high school diplomas for certain military veterans.

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

SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 28.0251, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, a school district may issue a high school diploma to a person who:

(1) is an honorably discharged member of the armed forces of the United States;

(2) was scheduled to graduate from high school:

(A) after 1940 and before 1975; or

(B) after 1989; and

(3) left [high] school after completing the sixth or a higher grade, before graduating from high school, [graduation] to serve in:

(A) World War II, the Korean War, [or] the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the Iraq War, or the war in Afghanistan; or

(B) any other war formally declared by the United States, military engagement authorized by the United States Congress, military engagement authorized by a United Nations Security Council resolution and funded by the United States Congress, or conflict authorized by the president of the United States under the War Powers Resolution of 1973 (50 U.S.C. Section 1541 et seq.).

SECTION 2. 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.

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