Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1948 )

~~EATTOMNEY GENERAL Q,F TEXAS PRICE DANIEL September Hon, James C. Jones ?kecutive Director Veterans Affairs Commis8;1~~1 Austin, Texas ter e*ustion, of #lG$bi. ity”una?.r the Dear SrLr: * * $111 * We refer to your lsttar frpa yhhich ve quote as f!O~~@VS : ‘We respectfully re@.iest from you ati opin- ton uhich we hdpe Vi,11 olnrrry ,$Qe )i)roai- s&oim df Set, 4, A,rte 2634-1, Tbxtd ‘@&ivil Statutes: “I * If a veteran has exhausted his e~llgibllitg fop eduoation upae,r Ptibllc Law 16, 78th Congress, Public Law 346, 78th Cm- gress, or an3 amenamehts thereto; $8 he then eligible for exemption from ‘paytkent of tui- tion fees in State Supported schools under ii:;i,w in erclcr to pwiiue aaaitional eau- “2, If the ansver to our iipat quea- tion is yes, for hov lopg may a veteran at- tend a State supported school vhile receiving exemption from payment of tuition under this ll%W? If he receives a B. A. degree, may he continue his education In the same school, or another school, in order to receive his Mataters and/w Ph,D? If he receives his Pre-Medical degree In one school, arrayhe receive exemption from pbJ*nt of tuition under this law in order to contiffue on in nealcal school until graduation? Section 1 of Article 2654b-1, Vernon’s Civi Statutes, (Acts 1933, 43ra Leg, 1st C .S b Ch, 6, p* 10 t conoerning the exemption of war V8teraneC@ the Spanlah- . . . Hon, Jsmes C, Jones, page 2 (V-688) American Wap ana w0Pia War I f~on payment of tuition r806 in State suppopted inrtltutlons of hlgheP learning, r8adS, in party as follows: nsec, 1, me governing borPds of the several institutions Of COll8giat8 Pank, supported in whole OP ln pat-t by public funds appropriated from the State !lTreasury, Sre hereby authorized and diP8Ctea to ex- cept ana exempt all citizens of Texas, who have resided in Texas for a period of not less than twnlve (12) months prior to the aat of Pegistration, aa who S8PVea aur the Spanish-American alas/or auPlng the Wor ? a WaP as nurses or in th8 rpmeqforceS of the United States auplDg the world war, ma vho are honorably aiSChP68a theP8fr@8s rrom the p8yment of all dueS, 1808, 8ma charges vhatsoev8P9 including fees for correspon- dence copses; ppovidea, howeveP, ttit th8 fOr8gOing 8XemptiOn shall not be COnStPU8a to apply to deposita, such as llbrug, or laboratopj deposits, vhlch nary be requlzed in the nature of a security for the return of or popes cape Of ppopepty loaned for the US.3 Of StubentS, 19OP to WJ f8eS OP ch&PgeS for loagkng, board OP clothing. The gooe~nlna; boaras of eala institutions ry and it shall bs theip duty te Prqulrb every app~lcmt claim.% the benefit of the above exemption to sub ii! t s8tfafactoPf evidence that the applicant IS a o3tizen of Texas ana Ii othe~wlse entitled to said exemption D B 0 In Acts 1943, (48th Leg, ch, 337, p. 568) the above Section vaS Pe8n@@t8a to cOntSaue in iat.ropoe ana effect, subjeot only to the adaltiola or l nev eec - tlon to be knovn as Sectlon 3O This sew S8CtiOm ooa- cernlng the exemption of certain veterans Of woP&a %r II from payment of tuition In State Sup$orted loptitt+ tlons of collegiate PaaL Peeas: “Set, 30 All of the above ana fore- going provliaions, conditfon5 u&d benefit8 hefelnabove in this &ticle peovlded fop In Section S, e 9 m shm appiy.ana ~?CPU~ to the benefit of all nur+esp members of the Women's &ry Auxllirpy Cgpps, WOUB'B Boa. JJ.UIISS C, Jones, page 3 (V-688) Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency Service, and all members of the United States armed forces, regardless of whether members of the United States Army or of the United States Navy or the United States Coast Guard, who have er are nov samlng, or who may after the parsaga of thlia Act, S~PVB In the arMd forces of the United States of hwlca duNa~~ the present H0,rld W8r Sumber II, beiag the war nov being press- cuted, and vhlah vas entered into on or ahmtiy mm Deeembbr 7, Wkl, IBY the Wa ttaStr d tes 0Ph a r iea lgd.nat vhat are aonomly known ao the Azlr Povsrr; wevld- ed, furthw, that all the rbevo and io~e- go- pe~aans nanod &re bean komo&l~ dfraharged srom the swv1oaa In laliok thy vere engqed. kid, ,rerldod IU’tllcrr, tbBt the benefits and peviriur~ef tlf8 Aat shall also apply aad lmrr to the benefit of the children of members of the &ilted States Armed Ferces, vhare 8u& members vepe killad IM aotle8 w dimd ihi la the 8ervlao0 The p~ovimioar of this Aat ah111 not rmly to oao Iralmdo a87 umba of such thlted Statoe Aawad Fe~oos~ OF bth@r wr- sons hereinabove Mmo&, vho ve~e PisCh&rg- ed iron the sorvlce in Wah thourf w&e en- gaged because of being WOP the age of thlPty+lght (38) years or bec8uss af a gcrsanal request on the part of such POP- son te be discharged from suah service, o s 0 (I Aaethor mctiea, cedlfiad ~8 Sbotlaa 4 of the mme Artlole vaa added by Acts 1945, 49th Legislature, Ohrpter 338, page 552, and provides a8 follovsn "Sec. 4, The exemption fram the pay- ment of dues, fees, and charges as provld- ed hereinabove In Section 1 and Sectfon 3 of this Article shall not apply to or ln- elude honorably discharged nembers OP such United States Apmed Forces, 0~ ether pcr- sons hereinabove named, who are ellglble for education or training benefits provid- ed by the United States government under public Lav go, 16, 78th Co rem, or mead- meats thereto, or under Pub7 lc Lav So. 346, :*. w Bon. James Co Jones, page 4 Qv-6881 78th Cong~esa, OP 8mndments thereto, OP under any o%heln Fe&Pal legislation that may be in foluas at the tlm of @eglstpatlon in the college conospnsd OS irruohrx-servloe nun 0~ voman. As to all ax-service men OP vomon as dei’ined in this se&Son, the govsra- lng boards of each o$ the sewral lartltu- tions of collegiate rank9 euppopted in whole or is par8 bj publlo Sunde a pPopriate& fpom the’stats %easwy, are hrz=eg y authoplr;ed to entry lute contracts with the United States Government, or an7 of its agexnoies, to f~- nlsh instruction to such ax-repvice men and vomen at a tuition pate vhloh oove~~ the es- timated cost of euch instructken oP, ln the altepnatlve, at a tuition pate oi One Hun- dred Ddllars ($lQQ,QO) a semester, a8 rsag be detepmlned by the govermlng board of the ln- stltution concerned; ppovlded, however, that if suoh pates a8 herein specified lpe wohlbit- sd by Federal law %OP an7 pr~tic~ulalr ola8e of ox-se~vloe men OP wow& then, also in -&hat event, the tultlon Pete ah811 be raaoh pate aa may b@ agmed to b isaid govr~ialag beamIn,, but IJB aay wont not 3 088 than the latabllrh- ed rates fop oivilirn rtudents; pevidti fw- hher th%t should the Fedma law pmvlde am to mnr class of vetspans that euch tuitfon payments ape to be deduoted fpom any sub- sequent benefits which said setupan may be hepeaftep entitled to receive, the educa- tional Institution concerned is hereby auth- orized and directed to Fefund to any vetsPan who lm a resident of Texas within the taean- Qng of thir Act the amount by whloh anf ad- Qu.ated oorpensation payment is hersafteP aatually ~cduead on account of tuitlaa pap-= w&B made by the FadePal gOvePaADbZ& to 8!0h sducatlonal fnstitution for sneh vetePan. In Opfnion Non O-7316, a prloP admlnistP~tloa of this of’fica had occasion to expz~ss it8 viewpl vith respect to pertinent questions conoernlng the srMA.o~8 of Artiole 265&b-1 above quoted and Pub110 Laws 16 aad 346, 78th cOngPeS~~ We enclose a copy thereof for JWW use and convenlenoe. Among other matters, Opinion O-7316 advleod that a veteran OS World Wap II, honorably dl8chaPged, . Hon. James C. Jones, page 5 (V-688) eligible t0 SBCuP8 tralnirIg Or %dUi?atiOMl benO?tts Un- der Public Law No. 346, 78th Congress, as amended, is not entitled to the benefits conferred on veterans of World War II under State statute, Artlo 265&b-l, as areended, and is not exempt from payment of tuition in a Stat8 sup- ;r;dl;;stitution of higher learning under any existing i!i That Opinign appli8.9 t0 VetSmXUS who 8r8 8li- glble to ;8our8 "G. I. Bill educational benefits. As to thOS8 veterans, however, who have 8x- hauatsd the benefits to vhich they ver8 eligible under the %. I." Bill, ve think they should nov b8 tr8ated for purposes of the Stat8 exemption lav, Article 2654b-1 as amended, as are those other V8t8ran.S vho are not or vere never entitled to benefits under th8 VG* 1." Bill. / The purpose of S8ctiOn 4 of Article 2654b-1 is Clearly to allow the governing boards of eaah of the sev- eral Institutions of aollegiate rank to realize tuition payments Q?on the Government on those veterans entltled to "0. I. Bill 8dUCational benefits. We find no fntencl- ment in said Section 4, or other provision of Article 2654b-1, that the exeaptlon provided ther8in should go Only to those V8t8raIM,,CitiZ8ns Of Texas, who V8rd en- titledto no "0. I." Bill eclucatlonal bsnsflts. we thiak Article 265423-l, as amended, is clear- ly to the effsot that all veterans, cltleens of Texas, be- Sigllat8d therein, are entitled to the ex8qtion provided ther8in vher8 they are not, or where they are no longer, entltle+to rlceive 88u8atlOMl benefits under the Bo- called G. I. Bill. To oonstrue Article 2654b-1 to th8 8ff8Ct that only those veteran8 drsignated therein vho may not realize the benefits afforded under the G. I," Bill or who never may have participated in the benefits of that bill are entitled to exemption provided In the State law would be to read Into said law provlsione vhich simply are not contained therein, Accordingly, we ansver your first question in the effirmatlve. With respeot to our second question, a close examination of Article 265 3: b-l, as am8na8d, vi11 reveal no provision thersln limiting the length of tlm8 during which a veteran exempt und8r said law mar attend our State institutiona of higher learning vlthout payment of tu1t10n. Of course, he must ma& the saholastia rrquire- ments and other rules and regulations applicable to ~11 students entering or desiring to continue eoucational pursuits in said institutions. But having met those re- .. . ^ Hon. James C, Jones, page 6 (V-688) quirements, he may continue his education exempt from the payment Of tuit-lon under Artiole 2654b-1, as amena- ed, until such time as the Legislature may pass &ews fix- ing a definite duration of time or limiting his rights. SUlvlMARY A veteran, citizen of Texas, who has exhausted his eligibility foP eduCatiOnal benefits under Public Laws 16 and 346, 78th Congress, and amendments thereto, is eltgl- bl8 for exemption from payment of tuition in State institutions of higher learting as provided in ArtYCle 2654b-1, V. C. S., as amended. Article 2654b-1, V. C. S., does not limit the th 18 of time during uhiah a veteran 81i 1 18 and designated thevein, may attend Gtate institutions of higher Tearnine vlthout payment of tuition. Yours very truly, ATTORtf#iYGl!iKBMLBP TEXAS .