Bill Text: TX HB3295 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to tuition and fees for veterans and certain family members of veterans.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-25 - Referred to Higher Education [HB3295 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB3295-Introduced.html

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83R11088 JRJ-F
By: Miller of Fort Bend H.B. No. 3295

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to tuition and fees for veterans and certain family
members of veterans.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 54.241(a), (b), (c), (d), (f), (g),
(h), (i), and (j), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) In this section, "veteran" means a person who:
(1) serves on active duty as a member of the armed
forces of the United States or the Texas National Guard;
(2) serves as a member of a reserve component of the
armed forces of the United States or the Texas National Guard; or
(3) is honorably discharged, retired, or released
from:
(A) active duty as a member of the armed forces of
the United States or the Texas National Guard; or
(B) service as a member of a reserve component of
the armed forces of the United States or the Texas National Guard.
[Military personnel are classified as provided by this section.]
(b) A veteran [person who is an officer, enlisted person,
selectee, or draftee of the Army, Army Reserve, Army National
Guard, Air National Guard, Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Navy, Navy
Reserve, Marine Corps, Marine Corps Reserve, Coast Guard, or Coast
Guard Reserve of the United States, who is assigned to duty in
Texas, and the spouse] and children of the veteran [such an officer,
enlisted person, selectee, or draftee,] are entitled to register in
a state institution of higher education by paying the tuition fee
and other fees or charges required of Texas residents, without
regard to the length of time the veteran [officer, enlisted person,
selectee, or draftee] has been assigned to duty or resided in the
state. [However, out-of-state Army National Guard or Air National
Guard members attending training with Texas Army or Air National
Guard units under National Guard Bureau regulations may not be
exempted from nonresident tuition by virtue of that training status
nor may out-of-state Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast
Guard Reserves training with units in Texas under similar
regulations be exempted from nonresident tuition by virtue of that
training status. It is the intent of the legislature that only
those members of the Army or Air National Guard or other reserve
forces mentioned above be exempted from the nonresident tuition fee
and other fees and charges only when they become members of Texas
units of the military organizations mentioned above.]
(c) The spouse [or child] of a veteran [member of the Armed
Forces of the United States] who has been assigned to duty elsewhere
immediately following assignment to duty in Texas is entitled to
pay the tuition fees and other fees or charges provided for Texas
residents as long as the spouse [or child] resides continuously in
Texas.
(d) A spouse [or dependent child] of a veteran [member of
the Armed Forces of the United States,] who is not assigned to duty
in Texas but who has previously resided in Texas for a six-month
period, is entitled to pay the tuition fees and other fees or
charges provided for Texas residents for a term or semester at an
institution of higher education if the veteran [member]:
(1) at least one year preceding the first day of the
term or semester executed a document with the applicable military
service that is in effect on the first day of the term or semester
and that:
(A) indicates that the veteran's [member's]
permanent residence address is in Texas; and
(B) designates Texas as the veteran's [member's]
place of legal residence for income tax purposes;
(2) has been registered to vote in Texas for the entire
year preceding the first day of the term or semester; and
(3) satisfies at least one of the following
requirements:
(A) for the entire year preceding the first day
of the term or semester has owned real property in Texas and in that
time has not been delinquent in the payment of any taxes on the
property;
(B) has had an automobile registered in Texas for
the entire year preceding the first day of the term or semester; or
(C) at least one year preceding the first day of
the term or semester executed a will that has not been revoked or
superseded indicating that the veteran [member] is a resident of
this state and deposited the will with the county clerk of the
county of the veteran's [member's] residence under Section 71,
Texas Probate Code.
(f) The spouse [or child] of a veteran [member of the Armed
Forces of the United States] who dies or is killed is entitled to
pay the resident tuition fee if the spouse [or child] becomes a
resident of Texas within 60 days of the date of death.
(g) If a veteran [member of the Armed Forces of the United
States] is stationed outside Texas and the veteran's [member's]
spouse [or child] establishes residence in Texas by residing in
Texas and by filing with the Texas institution of higher education
at which the spouse [or child] plans to register a letter of intent
to establish residence in Texas, the institution of higher
education shall permit the spouse [or child] to pay the tuition,
fees, and other charges provided for Texas residents without regard
to length of time that the spouse [or child] has resided in Texas.
(h) The governing board of Midwestern State University may
set the resident [and nonresident] tuition rates for United States
military personnel enrolled in the bachelor of science or master of
science degree program in radiological sciences at Midwestern State
University at the rates the governing board considers appropriate,
notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, and may
exempt those military personnel from all or part of required fees
and charges while enrolled in one of those programs. The total
amount of tuition and required fees charged to a resident member of
the armed forces under this subsection may not be less than the
total amount of tuition and required fees charged to other resident
students in the same program. United States military personnel
enrolled in one of those programs by instructional
telecommunication are entitled to pay tuition fees and other fees
or charges provided by the board for United States military
personnel residing in Texas if they began the program while
stationed at a military base or other installation in Texas as a
member of the United States Armed Forces. In this subsection,
"instructional telecommunication" means instruction delivered
primarily by telecommunication technology, including open-channel
television, cable television, closed-circuit television, low power
television, communication and/or direct broadcast satellite,
satellite master antenna system, microwave, videotape, videodisc,
computer software, computer networks, and telephone lines.
(i) A veteran's [former member of the Armed Forces of the
United States or the former member's] spouse [or dependent child]
is entitled to pay the tuition fees and other fees or charges
provided for Texas residents for any term or semester at a state
institution of higher education that begins before the first
anniversary of the veteran's [member's] separation from the Armed
Forces if the veteran [former member]:
(1) has retired or been honorably discharged from the
Armed Forces; and
(2) has complied with the requirements of Subsection
(d).
(j) A [member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the
child or] spouse of a veteran [member of the Armed Forces of the
United States] who is entitled to pay tuition and fees at the rate
provided for Texas residents under another provision of this
section while enrolled in a degree or certificate program is
entitled to pay tuition and fees at the rate provided for Texas
residents in any subsequent term or semester while the person is
continuously enrolled in the same degree or certificate
program. For purposes of this subsection, a person is not required
to enroll in a summer term to remain continuously enrolled in a
degree or certificate program. The person's eligibility to pay
tuition and fees at the rate provided for Texas residents under this
subsection does not terminate because the person is no longer [a
member of the Armed Forces of the United States or] the [child or]
spouse of a veteran [member of the Armed Forces of the United
States].
SECTION 2. Section 54.241(e), Education Code, is repealed.
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with tuition and fees
charged for the 2013 fall semester.
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, 2013.