87S20627 MM-D By: Jetton H.B. No. 226 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to education benefits at public institutions of higher education for certain survivors of public servants. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as Caleb Rule's Law. SECTION 2. Section 54.354(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows: (a) A person is eligible to receive education benefits under this section if the person is one of the following eligible survivors of an individual listed under Section 615.003, Government Code: (1) a surviving spouse; or (2) a surviving [minor] child who: (A) on the date of the listed individual's death is younger than 25 years of age; and (B) if the child is not a biological or adopted child of the listed individual, was claimed as a dependent on the individual's federal income tax return for the year preceding the year of the individual's death [as defined by Section 615.001, Government Code]. SECTION 3. Section 54.354(a), Education Code, as amended by this Act, applies beginning with costs charged for the spring 2022 semester. Costs charged for an academic period before that 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 4. 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 on the 91st day after the last day of the legislative session.