Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Veteran and Servicemember Legislation

El Paso is already home to roughly 48,000 veterans, and Fort Bliss is bringing many new servicemembers and families to our community. Our goal during the 81st Legislative Session was to assist veterans and servicemembers in El Paso and across the state.  I am proud to share great news with you of the policies we fought for and the major strides we accomplished.  

Here are five major initiatives that you should know about:

• Lowering property taxes for Texas' disabled veterans. Disabled veterans have made an enormous sacrifice for our country.  As a means of thanking them, the 80th Texas Legislature passed S.J.R. 29, which allowed the citizens of Texas to vote on a constitutional amendment exempting the residence homestead of a 100 percent or totally disabled veteran from ad valorem taxation.  While S.J.R. 29 was overwhelmingly approved by voters, the corresponding statutory changes did not pass the Legislature.  As a result, we filed S.B. 192, which makes the statutory changes required to exempt 100 percent disabled or totally disabled veterans from all ad valorem property taxes on their homestead.  The concept from S.B. 192 passed as an amendment to H.B. 3613, which will become law on January 1, 2010.  If you have any questions on how to apply for the exemption, please contact the El Paso Central Appraisal District at 915-780-2000 or www.epcad.org.

• Increases state funding for military children.  Tens of thousands of military students from other states and overseas will relocate to Texas over the next several years due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) and the re-basing of our active duty servicemembers.  In El Paso alone, approximately 13,000 school-age children will move into our community due to BRAC relocations.  Additionally, soldiers stationed across the state are serving our country in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.  These soldiers' children face a special set of challenges, whether it be adjusting to a new school and community or the fact that one or both parents are stationed abroad in a war zone.  To address their needs, we filed S.B. 194, which provides for increased state funding for these students.  This increased allotment will allow school districts to address the need for additional counselors, both to assist relocating military students and to help students with the effects of Texas-based servicemembers who are killed or injured in action.  Fortunately, this concept passed as part of a larger piece of legislation, H.B. 3646, which became law on September 1.

• Reducing the cost of higher education for military veterans and their dependents. Under prior law, a former member of the U.S. Armed Forces or the former member's spouse or dependent child was entitled to pay the resident tuition rate for any term or semester at a state institution of higher education that began before the first anniversary of the veteran's separation from the Armed Forces.  After the one year time limit, however, veterans and their families had to establish residency through other means.  Expanding in-state tuition benefits to military veterans and their spouses and children is a fitting way to recognize those who have served, led, and protected our country. In response, we filed S.B. 200, which would have amended the Education Code and eliminated the one year time limit on resident tuition rates, thus allowing veterans and their families to pay resident tuition rates regardless of how long they have lived in Texas.  The concept in S.B. 200 passed in S.B. 297, which we proudly coauthored and became law on June 19, 2009.  For more information, contact the veterans affairs office of any Texas institution of higher education.

• Protecting Texas' homeless veterans.  Housing authorities throughout Texas work to enhance the lives of millions of people by providing quality affordable housing to the most vulnerable members of society.  Presently, there is a great need for housing for veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces or in the state military forces.  Senator Shapleigh joined with Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) to sponsor H.B. 3358, which supports the efforts of housing authorities to develop housing for veterans throughout Texas without.  The bill impacts housing authorities in counties with a population of more than 500,000 and empowers those authorities to develop housing communities for veterans, including borrowing money, accepting grants, and exercising its other powers to provide safe and sanitary housing for veterans.  H.B. 3358 passed and will become effective on September 1, 2009.

• Easing the difficult transition process for military children relocating to Texas. Frequent moves and parental deployments can impose barriers to educational success on the children of military families. These barriers include the difficulty under current law of transferring educational records between school districts and variations in certain entrance or age requirements. Eleven states have already enacted the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children to address inequities facing the school-aged children of service members who are required to relocate to a different state.  To ensure that Texas participates, we joined with Sen. Van de Putte to coauthor S.B. 90, which enters Texas into the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. The compact facilitates the student placement process, qualifications and eligibility for enrollment and on-time graduation, and provides for the collection and sharing of information between and among member states.  S.B. 90 passed and was effective on May 5, 2009, the same day the Governor signed the bill.

It is my honor to serve the El Paso and Fort Bliss communities.  As a state, it is our obligation to take care of the brave men and women that have served our country and fought for our freedoms.  I look forward to continue working diligently to support both military personnel and their families.