Bill Text: TX HB403 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to exempting certain individuals who are homeless from the payment of tuition and fees at public institutions of higher education.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-25 - Referred to Higher Education [HB403 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB403-Introduced.html

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87R2709 CXP-D
By: Hernandez H.B. No. 403

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to exempting certain individuals who are homeless from the
payment of tuition and fees at public institutions of higher
education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 54.3671 to read as follows:
Sec. 54.3671. EXEMPTIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE HOMELESS.
(a) In this section, "individual who is homeless":
(1) means an individual who:
(A) lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate
nighttime residence; or
(B) has a primary nighttime residence that is:
(i) a supervised publicly or privately
operated shelter designed to provide temporary living
accommodations, including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and
transitional housing for the mentally ill;
(ii) an institution that provides a
temporary residence for individuals intended to be
institutionalized; or
(iii) a public or private place not
designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping
accommodation for human beings; and
(2) does not include an individual who is imprisoned
or otherwise detained in a correctional facility.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (e), an institution of
higher education may exempt from the payment of tuition and fees
authorized in this chapter, including tuition and fees charged for
a dual credit course or other course for which a high school student
may earn joint high school and college credit, an individual who is
homeless if the individual:
(1) submits to the institution of higher education not
later than June 30 of each year, as prescribed by Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board rule, a notarized affidavit:
(A) confirming the individual's status as an
individual who is homeless from:
(i) a high school or school district
homeless liaison or other employee of the school district in which
the individual is enrolled;
(ii) the director of an emergency shelter
or transitional housing program funded by the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development;
(iii) the director of:
(a) a basic center for runaway and
homeless youth; or
(b) a transitional living program;
(iv) a state homeless education counselor,
if any;
(v) an employee of the National Center for
Homeless Education;
(vi) a third party, including a private or
publicly funded homeless shelter or service provider;
(vii) a college financial aid administrator
other than an administrator employed by the institution of higher
education;
(viii) an employee from a college access
program;
(ix) a counselor at a high school the
individual attended or a college counselor; or
(x) a mental health professional, social
worker, mentor, physician, or member of the clergy; and
(B) demonstrating financial need as determined
by Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rule; and
(2) enrolls in the institution of higher education as
an undergraduate student or in a dual credit course or other course
for which a high school student may earn joint high school and
college credit not later than the individual's 25th birthday.
(c) A person may not charge a fee for providing or
notarizing the affidavit described by Subsection (b).
(d) An affidavit described by Subsection (b) may not be used
for an exemption under this section if the affidavit was signed more
than 60 days before the date the affidavit is submitted to an
institution of higher education under Subsection (b).
(e) An individual is not eligible for an exemption under
this section if the individual:
(1) has previously received an exemption under this
section for 10 semesters or summer sessions at any institution or
institutions of higher education;
(2) has received a baccalaureate degree; or
(3) is subject to the registration requirements of
Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure.
SECTION 2. (a) Section 54.3671, Education Code, as added by
this Act, applies beginning with tuition and fees charged for the
2022 spring semester.
(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
adopt rules to implement Section 54.3671, Education Code, as added
by this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this
Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.