By: Birdwell, et al. S.B. No. 1735
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of
  higher education 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), (e), (k), and (l) and adding Subsections
  (a-0), (a-5), (c-1), (k-2), (l-1), and (p) to read as follows:
         (a)  The governing board of each institution of higher
  education shall exempt the [following] persons described by
  Subsection (a-0) 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 the
  person:
               (1)  entered the service at a location in this state;
               (2)  [,] declared this state as the person's home of
  record in the manner provided by the applicable military or other
  service;
               (3)  [, 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; or 
               (4)  has resided in this state continuously for the
  eight years immediately preceding the first class date of the
  semester or academic term to which the exemption would apply.
         (a-0)  The following persons are exempted from the payment of
  tuition, dues, fees, and other required charges under Subsection
  (a):
               (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-5)  A person who received an exemption under this section
  for a semester or other academic term before the 2017 spring
  semester continues to be eligible for the exemption provided by
  this section as this section existed on January 1, 2015.
         (c-1)  This subsection does not apply to a person who is
  eligible to receive an exemption under Subsection (a-2) or (b) or to
  continue to receive an exemption under Subsection (a-1), (a-3),
  (a-4), or (a-5).  In addition to the limitation prescribed by
  Subsection (c), a person who qualifies for an exemption under
  Subsection (a) based on the person's military service may not
  receive the exemption for a semester or other academic term the
  first class date of which is later than the 15th anniversary of:
               (1)  the date of the person's honorable discharge from
  active military duty; or
               (2)  if the person subsequently serves in the Texas
  National Guard or in the reserve component of the armed forces of
  the United States, the date of the person's latest discharge from
  the Texas National Guard or the reserve component, as applicable.
         (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 state or federal grant
  aid or educational benefits under federal legislation that may be
  used only for the payment of tuition and fees if the value of the
  grant aid and [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 state or federal grant aid
  or 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 the grant aid or
  [those] federal benefits and the exemption in the same semester or
  other term.  The combined amount of the state or federal grant aid
  or federal benefit 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 may not exceed the cost of tuition and fees for that
  semester or other term.  An institution of higher education may not
  require a person eligible for an exemption under Subsection (a) to
  apply for or obtain a student loan.
         (k)  Subject to the limitation prescribed by Subsection
  (k-2), the [The] Texas Veterans Commission 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 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-2)  A person who becomes eligible for an exemption
  provided by Subsection (a) must have served on active military
  duty, excluding training, or on active service or active status in
  the Texas National Guard or the reserve component of the armed
  forces of the United States for a cumulative total of at least six
  years before any portion of the exemption may be assigned to a child
  of the person under Subsection (k).
         (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;
               (2)  be an [as a graduate or] undergraduate student[,
  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 policy regarding eligibility for financial aid];
  [and]
               (3)  maintain:
                     (A)  a course load of at least 24 semester credit
  hours per academic year; and
                     (B)  a cumulative grade point average of at least
  2.5 on a four-point scale or the equivalent;
               (4)  claim the exemption for a semester or other
  academic term the first class date of which is no later than the
  15th anniversary of the honorable discharge date from active duty
  of the parent from whom the exemption is being assigned;
               (5)  no later than the last class date of each semester
  or other academic term to which the exemption would apply, perform
  at least 20 hours of community service approved by the Texas
  Veterans Commission for purposes of this subdivision; and
               (6)  be 25 years of age or younger on the first class
  date [day] of the semester or other academic term for which the
  exemption is claimed.
         (l-1)  If a person fails to meet any of the requirements of
  Subsection (l)(3) after the completion of any semester or other
  academic term, the person is not eligible to receive an exemption
  under Subsection (k) during the next semester or other term in which
  the person enrolls. A person may become eligible to receive an
  exemption in a subsequent semester or other academic term if the
  person:
               (1)  completes a semester or other academic term during
  which the person is not eligible for the exemption; and
               (2)  satisfies the requirements of Subsection (l)(3).
         (p)  An institution of higher education shall require a
  person receiving an exemption under this section to complete a Free
  Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  The institution may
  not use the information obtained from a person's FAFSA to encourage
  or require the person to obtain a student loan, but may use the
  information to make a person aware of grant opportunities.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 434, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 434.00792 to read as follows:
         Sec. 434.00792.  STUDY AND REPORT REGARDING CERTAIN TUITION
  AND FEE EXEMPTIONS FOR VETERANS AND FAMILY MEMBERS. (a)  The
  commission, in coordination with the Texas Higher Education
  Coordinating Board and the Legislative Budget Board, shall conduct
  a study observing and comparing the implementation and effects,
  including the costs to institutions of higher education, of the
  exemption from the payment of tuition and fees at institutions of
  higher education under Section 54.341, Education Code:
               (1)  before the enactment of Chapter 1340 (S.B. 93),
  Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, allowing a
  person eligible for an exemption under Section 54.341, Education
  Code, to assign the exemption to a child of the person;
               (2)  after the enactment of the Act described by
  Subdivision (1); and
               (3)  after the enactment and becoming law of S.B. 1735,
  84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, amending Section 54.341,
  Education Code.
         (b)  Not later than December 1, 2018, the commission shall
  report its findings from the study conducted under this section to
  the legislature.
         (c)  This section expires January 1, 2019.
         SECTION 3.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
  this section, the changes in law made by this Act to Section 54.341,
  Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and fees charged for
  the 2017 spring semester. Tuition and fees charged for a term or
  semester before the 2017 spring 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 changes in law made by this Act in amending Section
  54.341(a) and adding Section 54.341(a-0), Education Code, apply
  beginning with tuition and fees charged for the first academic
  semester beginning on or after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 4.  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, 2015.