By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 1159
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to tuition and fee exemptions for certain military
  personnel and their dependents.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 54.341, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a), (a-2), (b), (e), (k-1), (l), (m), and (n)
  and adding Subsection (a-4) 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 or resides outside of this state due to the
  person's military assignment or the military assignment of the
  person's spouse 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-2)  The exemptions provided for in Subsection (a) also
  apply to the spouse of:
               (1)  a member of the armed forces of the United States:
                     (A)  who was killed in action;
                     (B)  who died while in service;
                     (C)  who is 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 and permanently disabled
  or meets the eligibility requirements for individual
  unemployability [for purposes of employability] according to the
  disability ratings of the Department of Veterans Affairs as a
  result of a service-related injury; or
               (2)  a member of the Texas National Guard or the Texas
  Air National Guard who:
                     (A)  was killed since January 1, 1946, while on
  active duty either in the service of this state or the United
  States; or
                     (B)  is totally and permanently disabled or meets
  the eligibility requirements for individual unemployability [for
  purposes of employability] according to the disability ratings of
  the Department of Veterans Affairs, regardless of whether the
  member is 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.
         (a-4)  Subsection (a-2) or (b) applies only if the member of
  the armed forces of the United States 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.  The member is not required to meet any other
  requirements of Subsection (a).
         (b)  The exemptions provided for in Subsection (a) also apply
  to:
               (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 and permanently disabled
  or meet the eligibility requirements for individual
  unemployability [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 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 and permanently disabled or meet
  the eligibility requirements for individual unemployability [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.
         (e)  The exemption from tuition, fees, and other charges
  provided for by this section 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
  and the exemption in the same semester or other term.  A person who
  is entitled for a semester or other term to receive more than one
  type of federal benefit that may be used only for the payment of
  tuition and fees may choose which benefit to apply for that semester
  or other term. The extent to which an exemption under this section
  applies to the person shall be based on the value of the federal
  benefit or benefits the person chooses to use for that semester or
  other term.  The combined amount of the federal benefit or benefits
  that may be used only for the payment of tuition and fees and that
  are received in a semester or other term plus the amount of the
  exemption received in that [a] semester or other term may not exceed
  the cost of tuition and fees for that semester or other term.
         (k-1)  The procedures under Subsection (k) must provide:
               (1)  the manner in which a person may waive the
  exemption;
               (2)  the manner in which a child may be designated to
  receive the exemption;
               (3)  a procedure permitting the designation of 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)  a method of documentation to enable institutions
  of higher education to determine the eligibility of the designated
  child to receive the exemption; and
               (5)  a procedure permitting a person who waived the
  exemption and designated a child to receive the exemption to revoke
  that designation as to any unused portion of the assigned credit
  hours.
         (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.
         (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 designated to receive
  an exemption under Subsection (k) 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 (l)(3) [(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.  (a)  The changes in law made by this Act by
  amending Subsection (a), Section 54.341, Education Code, and by
  adding Subsection (a-4), Section 54.341, Education Code, apply
  immediately.
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (a) of this section,
  the changes in law made by this Act to Section 54.341, Education
  Code, apply beginning with tuition and fees for the 2013 fall
  semester. Tuition and fees for a term or semester before the 2013
  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 3.  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, 2013.