HB4347 - Relating to the eligibility of children and other dependents of certain military personnel or veterans for tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of higher education.

  89R16694 AND-D     By: Shofner H.B. No. 4347       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the eligibility of children and other dependents of   certain military personnel or veterans 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(k), Education Code, is amended to   read as follows:          (k)  The Texas Veterans Commission by rule shall prescribe   procedures to allow:                (1)  a person who becomes eligible for an exemption   provided by Subsection (a) , or an active member of the armed forces   of the United States who would otherwise be eligible for an   exemption provided by Subsection (a) but for the requirement to   have been honorably discharged, 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), or an active   member of the armed forces of the United States who would otherwise   be eligible for an exemption provided by Subsection (a) but for the   requirement to have been honorably discharged, 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).          SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act to Section   54.341, Education Code, applies beginning with tuition and fees   charged for the 2025 fall semester. Tuition and fees charged for a   term or semester before the 2025 fall 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.          SECTION 3.  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, 2025.