BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 3572 |
By: Zerwas |
Higher Education |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties suggest that the benefits from the Hazlewood tuition and fee exemption at public institutions of higher education for certain military personnel and their dependents should be contained to ensure that they are available only to Texas residents, with the intention of controlling the cost implications resulting from extending the benefits to veterans who enrolled in the military as residents of other states. C.S.H.B. 3572 seeks to address this issue.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 3572 amends the Education Code to require a person born outside Texas, in order to be eligible for a tuition and fee exemption at public institutions of higher education for certain military personnel and their dependents, to have resided in Texas continuously for the eight years immediately preceding the first class date of the semester or other academic term to which the exemption would apply. The bill establishes that a person who received an exemption for a semester or other academic term before the 2016 spring semester continues to be eligible for the exemption provided by the law setting out the exemption as that law existed on January 1, 2015.
C.S.H.B. 3572 changes the residency requirement for a person seeking the exemption as an honorably discharged military veteran from current residency in Texas and entry into the service at a location in Texas, the declaration of Texas as the person's home of record in the manner provided by the applicable military or other service, or a determination that the person would have been a Texas resident at the time the person entered the service for purposes of in-state tuition and fees to the establishment and maintenance of a domicile in Texas as described by statutory provisions relating to eligibility for in-state tuition and fees and satisfaction of the eight-year residency requirement applicable to a person born outside Texas added by the bill.
C.S.H.B. 3572 changes the exemption residency requirement for the surviving spouse or child of a deceased military service member and the spouse or child of a totally and permanently disabled veteran from the spouse's or child's classification as a resident for purposes of in-state tuition and fees on the date of the spouse's or child's registration to the spouse's or child's establishment and maintenance of a domicile in Texas as described by statutory provisions relating to eligibility for in-state tuition and fees and satisfaction of the eight-year residency requirement applicable to a person born outside Texas as added by the bill.
C.S.H.B. 3572 prohibits a person who qualifies for a tuition and fee exemption at public institutions of higher education based on the person's military service, or a person to whom such an exemption is assigned based on the military service of the person's parent, from receiving the exemption for a semester or other academic term the first class date of which is later than the 15th anniversary of the date of the person's or parent's honorable discharge from active military duty, as applicable. This prohibition does not apply to a person who is eligible to receive an exemption as the surviving spouse or child of a deceased military service member or as the spouse or child of a permanently and totally disabled veteran or to continue to receive an exemption granted before the 2009–2010 academic year, before the 2011–2012 academic year, before the 2014–2015 academic year, or before the 2016 spring semester.
C.S.H.B. 3572 adds state or federal grant aid to the educational benefits used for the payment of tuition and fees to which a person is entitled at the time of registration that invalidate the person's eligibility for the tuition and fee exemption for certain military personnel and their dependents if the value of the grant aid and 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. The bill entitles a person, if the value of state or federal grant aid that may be used only for the payment of tuition and fees and that is received in a semester or other term does not equal or exceed the value of the exemption for the same semester or other term, to receive both the grant aid and the exemption in the same semester or other term. The bill prohibits the combined amount of the grant aid 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 from exceeding the cost of tuition and fees for that semester or other term and prohibits an institution of higher education from requiring a person eligible for an exemption as a veteran to apply for or obtain a student loan.
C.S.H.B. 3572 requires a person who becomes eligible for a tuition and fee exemption as a veteran to have served on active military duty, excluding training, for at least six years before any unused portion of the exemption may be assigned to a child of the person under certain conditions and caps at 60 credit hours the amount of unused cumulative credit hours for which a veteran could receive the exemption that may be so assigned. The bill changes the exemption residency requirement for such a child from classification as a resident for purposes of in-state tuition and fees when the child enrolls in an institution of higher education to establishment and maintenance of a domicile in Texas as described by statutory provisions relating to eligibility for in-state tuition and fees and satisfaction of the eight-year residency requirement applicable to a person born outside Texas as added by the bill. The bill also replaces the requirement that such a child be a graduate or undergraduate student and maintain a grade point average that satisfies the grade point average requirement for making 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 institution's financial aid eligibility policy with a requirement that such a student be an undergraduate student and maintain a course load of at least 24 semester credit hours per academic year and a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5 on a four-point scale or the equivalent. The bill clarifies that the maximum age of such a child, for eligibility purposes, applies to the child's age on the first class date of the semester or other academic term for which the exemption is claimed.
C.S.H.B. 3572 requires an institution of higher education to require a person receiving a tuition and fee exemption for certain military personnel or their dependents to complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The bill prohibits the institution from using the information obtained from a person's application to encourage or require the person to obtain a student loan but authorizes the institution to use the information to make a person aware of grant opportunities. The bill's provisions apply beginning with tuition and fees charged for the 2016 spring semester, except that the eight-year residency requirement added by the bill applies beginning with tuition and fees charged for the first academic semester beginning on or after the bill's effective date.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 3572 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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