South Galveston News

Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson introduced HB 160, a bill on Education, to the Texas House on Thursday, Feb. 27 during the 89(R) legislative session, according to the Texas Legislature website.

More specifically, the official text was summarized by the state legislature as ’’Relating to the enrollment, including resident status and tuition rates, of certain persons, including persons not authorized to be present in the United States, in public institutions of higher education’’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

This bill revises the criteria for resident status determination in Texas public higher education institutions, excluding those not authorized under federal statute to be present in the U.S. as residents for tuition purposes. It outlines documentation requirements to substantiate residency claims, mandates reclassification in the event of erroneous resident status assignment, and details financial liabilities for associated tuition differences. Institutions must notify law enforcement upon learning of unauthorized presence situations. It also allows certain institutions near state borders to propose lower nonresident tuition rates, excluding unauthorized individuals from such rates. The bill applies beginning with the 2025 fall semester, with differing effective dates contingent upon legislative approval.

Terri Leo-Wilson, member of the House Committee on Public Education, proposed one other bill during the 89(R) legislative session.

Leo-Wilson graduated from Texas A&M University with a BS.

Terri Leo-Wilson is currently serving in the Texas State House, representing the state's 23rd House district. She replaced previous state representative Mayes Middleton in 2023.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.

Bill Number	Date Introduced	Short Description
HB 256	02/27/2025	Relating to the Department of Public Safety performing rapid DNA testing of certain individuals crossing the Texas-Mexico border