During the 81st Legislative Session, many bills providing new benefits, services and opportunities for veterans and their families were introduced and passed. The Texas Legislature Online website at http://www.capitol.state.tx.us has more information on these bills, the legislative process and legislators.

House Bills

H.B. 551: This bill amends the Election Code to permit a scanned version of a federal postcard application to vote to be submitted by e-mail to the appropriate early voting clerk under procedures prescribed by the secretary of state, who the bill requires to establish by rule the date on which such an application is considered submitted. http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/HB00551F.pdf

H.B. 3452: This bill amends the Education Code to require the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to establish and administer the Texas Armed Services Scholarship Program under which the board provides an annual conditional scholarship to a student who meets the eligibility criteria and is appointed to receive a scholarship. The scholarship amount is the lesser of $15,000 or the amount available for each scholarship from appropriations that may be used for scholarships for that academic year. The bill authorizes, each year, the governor and the lieutenant governor to each appoint two students and each state senator and representative to appoint one student to receive an initial scholarship. The bill sets forth requirements and guidelines for this process. The bill prohibits a person from receiving a scholarship after earning a cumulative total of 150 credit hours or after being awarded a baccalaureate degree, whichever occurs first. http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/HB03452F.pdf

H.B. 3613: This bill amends Tax Code provisions that allow a Texas-resident disabled veteran to designate a property the veteran owns and receive a property tax exemption on the property, the amount of which depends on the veteran's disability rating.  It revises the disability rating schedule to increase the exemption for a veteran with certain disability ratings.  For purposes of the separate residential homestead exemption, however, the bill entitles a disabled veteran who has a disability rating of 100 percent, and who receives 100 percent disability compensation due to a service-connected disability, to an exemption of the total appraised value of the residence homestead.  Such an exemption, once allowed, need not be claimed in subsequent years and applies until the property changes ownership or the veteran's qualification for the exemption changes, although the chief appraiser may require a veteran to file a new exemption application to confirm such qualification.  The bill amends the Government Code to remove residence homesteads owned by veterans with disability ratings of 100 percent from being included as taxable property in the comptroller of public accounts' annual determination of school district property values. This Act takes effect January 1, 2010, but only if HJR 36 is approved by the voters; Section 1 takes effect immediately. http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/HB03613F.pdf

H.B. 3872: This bill amends the Government Code to expand the list of persons eligible for appointment as a veterans county service officer by including a spouse of a disabled veteran who has a total disability rating based either on a service-connected disability with a disability rating of 100 percent or on individual unemployability as an alternative requirement to the service credit requirement. http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/HB03872F.pdf

Senate Bills

S.B. 297: This bill amends the Education Code to entitle a person to pay resident tuition and fees at Texas institutions of higher education without regard to the length of time the person has resided in Texas if the person  is eligible for benefits under the Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2008 or any other federal law authorizing education benefits for veterans or is the veteran's spouse or child, including a stepchild, who is 25 years of age or younger on the first day of the academic term.  Additionally, the person must file a letter of intent to establish residency in Texas and must reside in Texas while enrolled in the institution.  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board must, by rule, prescribe procedures by which a person who suffered from a severe illness or other debilitating condition that affected the person's ability to use the resident tuition and fees benefit before reaching 25 years of age may be granted additional time to use the benefit corresponding to the time the person was unable to use the benefit because of the illness or condition. http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/SB00297F.pdf

S.B. 1325: This bill amends the Health and Safety Code to require the Department of State Health Services to develop, not later than January 1, 2010, a mental health intervention program for veterans that includes peer-to-peer counseling. http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/SB01325F.pdf

S.B. 1655: This bill amends the Government Code to require the Texas Lottery Commission to create and operate an instant-ticket lottery game to benefit the fund for veterans' assistance. The bill sets forth the commission's duties in operating the lottery game. It requires the commission to market and advertise the game in a manner intended to inform the public that game tickets are available and that proceeds are used to benefit Texas veterans and to begin selling tickets by March 2, 2010.  The bill provides for the deposit of unclaimed prize money into the fund for veterans' assistance after certain other appropriations and for the distribution of a portion of the money in the state lottery account to that fund.  The bill authorizes the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) to use appropriated funds to purchase, for use at outreach and training functions, food, beverages, and promotional items that include the agency's name and contact information to be distributed to veterans. The bill provides for the confidentiality of information received by the TVC regardless of the format in which it is maintained. http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/SB01655F.pdf

S.B. 1940: This bill amends the Government Code and Transportation Code to expand the sources of revenue for the veterans' assistance fund to include voluntary contributions made by a person registering a motor vehicle and by a state employee through the state employee charitable campaign.

This bill also amends the Health and Safety Code to establish a pretrial veterans court program for a defendant in certain criminal cases who is a veteran or current member of the United States armed forces suffering from an injury or illness that resulted from the defendant's military service in a combat zone or hazardous area whose injury or illness materially affected the defendant's criminal conduct at issue in the case. The bill sets forth provisions outlining the essential characteristics of the program and the procedure by which proof of a defendant's eligibility in the program may be submitted to the court. The bill also sets forth provisions regarding the duties of the program, the establishment of a regional program in two or more counties, legislative oversight of the program, and the collection and payment of fees. The bill amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to make a conforming change.  http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/SB01940F.pdf

S.B. 2135: This bill amends the Government Code to require the State Cemetery Committee to erect a flagpole and an appropriate monument in honor of the military personnel from Texas who are killed while serving in a combat zone. The Texas Veterans Commission must notify the committee as soon as practicable when a member of the United States armed forces from Texas is killed, and the committee is required to fly the flag at half-staff for an appropriate period of time. The bill requires the State Cemetery Committee to consult with the standing committees of each house of the legislature with jurisdiction over military and veterans matters in planning the monument. http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/SB02135F.pdf

S.C.R 38: This resolution urges the Congress of the United States to restore the presumption of a service connection for Agent Orange exposure to Navy and Air Force veterans who served on the inland waterways, territorial waters, and in the airspace of the Republic of Vietnam. http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=SCR38