88R15828 JRJ-F
 
  By: Hughes S.B. No. 2316
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to service requirements of certain current or former
  members of the Texas National Guard, the Texas Air National Guard,
  or a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States for
  tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of higher
  education.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 54.341(a), Education Code, is amended 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; and
               (5)  all persons not otherwise described by Subdivision
  (4) who were honorably discharged from a reserve component of the
  armed forces of the United States, the Texas National Guard, or the
  Texas Air National Guard after serving for a continuous period of at
  least 20 years in the applicable military service.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.