Posted on 08/18/2005 9:03:07 AM PDT by troop_defender
By Jay Root Star-Telegram Austin Bureau
AUSTIN - Carl Basham was born in Beeville, registered to vote in Travis County in 1998, holds a Texas driver's license and does his banking in Austin.
So he was shocked when Austin Community College told him a few weeks ago that he didn't qualify as a Texas resident "for tuition purposes." Basham, a former Marine corporal, said he was even more shocked when officials told him why: After two tours of duty in Iraq, he's been out of the state too long to qualify.
"They told me that I have to physically live in the state of Texas for at least a year," Basham said in an interview Tuesday. "It kind of hurts." Austin Community College officials were unable to specify why Basham isn't considered a Texas resident, only that he didn't meet state requirements as determined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. A spokeswoman said privacy laws prevent a discussion of Basham's case.
An official at another college said the fact that he entered the military in another state nearly a decade ago, despite his deep Texas ties, might be the reason.
Either way, two state officials said bureaucratic technicalities should not prevent the decorated veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom from being considered a Texas resident -- and paying about $500 a semester in tuition instead of around $2,600.
"Mr. Basham has gone to war for us, and I intend to go to war for him!" said state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, in a letter to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. "We owe it to our returning service men and women to make it as easy and uncomplicated as possible for them to resume their normal lives."
Likewise, state Rep. Suzanna Hupp, R-Lampasas, who represents many veterans serving at Fort Hood, said she wants to investigate the matter.
"I think we need to look into it further. It doesn't make sense that people who have bullets flying over their head aren't treated properly when they get back," she said.
The higher education board is investigating the case, an official there said.
Basham, 27, said he has to come up with about $3,000 now to pay for tuition and books as he works toward a degree in emergency medical care. Although he expects to get his college paid for eventually by the federal government, he said those GI benefits won't kick in for several more months, so he's stuck with high out-of-pocket expenses for now.
Basham's wife, Jolie, said an admissions officer at the college kept asking for documents proving his Texas residency. He brought in his driver's license, car registration papers, voter registration card, bank records and tax returns -- all sporting a Texas address.
"She said, 'It's really your military service that's holding you back.' I couldn't believe that those words came out of her mouth," Jolie Basham, a California native, recalled.
She said it stung her husband badly to be told he was not a Texan.
"He's always Texas this and Texas that," she said. "It's always been his home."
Jolie Basham remembered her husband's reaction when he got his car stolen last year while they were stationed in California at Camp Pendleton.
She said the Texas plates had been removed and mangled, but Cpl. Basham refused to replace them.
"He sat there and hammered 'em out and screwed them back on his car," she said. "He refused to get California plates."
Basham, the son of an air traffic controller who often was tranferred around Texas as he moved up the career ladder, lived most of his youth in Waco. During his junior year, he followed his parents to Monroe, La., where he graduated from high school.
It is there that he enlisted in the Marine Corps. Over two enlistments and eight years of service, Basham was awarded a Combat Action Ribbon, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and other decorations. He served as a driver and an auto mechanic in two tours of duty in Iraq, each lasting seven months, he said.
Basham was honorably discharged from the Marines on Jan. 31. He said he got to Texas as fast as he could, but he had to stay in California until his wife, who had pregnancy complications, gave birth in May.
The Texas Legislature has generally gone out of its way to ensure military veterans pay the lowest possible tuition. But it's not a perfect system, and some veterans end up falling through the bureaucratic cracks.
Donna Darovich, spokeswoman for the Tarrant County College District, said the big problem is that Basham entered the service in Louisiana, even though he only lived 1 1/2 years there.
"It basically doesn't matter if you've lived here all your life," she said. "Where you enlist is what kind of sets the stage for residency."
Ray Grasshoff, a spokesman for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, could not say how many returning service members face the problem Basham has encountered. But he said officials were looking into his case now.
"Our staff is trying to talk to the ACC staff and trying to figure out what can be done if anything to resolve the issue," Grasshoff said. "We, of course, support veterans and all they do for the country and want to make sure they get all the benefits they're entitled to."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2005 Star-Telegram and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
If went to Mexico and jumped the fence, he would instantly qualify.
Let's hope, though, he wasn't stupid and adopted Florida residency at some point in order to evade state income taxes or something.
Bureaucrats. Sheesh.
That's all there is to it.
Just demonstrates one of my principles of life: people are not trained at all in how to use power properly. The average person with even a little power, sadly, is a beast.
Texas also has no state income tax. (At least I believe this to be true)
BTW, neither does Wyoming.
This is no hugh problem. He needs to simply state that he is here illegally and bammo!, he's in, no charge.
This is outrageous. They were talking about it on Fox & Friends this morning. Seems there must be something we can do.
PING!
Unless there's an exemption for military, this is a violation of California law. I don't blame him, though, I got rid of my California plates as quickly as possible after moving out of that state.
You are right. No income taxes here.
Fort Dix is in Pennsylvania? When did this happen?
It might not be a huge problem to resolve. But it sure sends a bad message to the tens of thousands of Texan Troops.
Yes, there is an exemption for active duty military who have cars registered out of state.
Anyway, the Air Base is still there, but Dix was shut down.
Stuff like this and Massachusets requiring mental health screenings for returning veterans from Iraq make me a wonder if there isn't a growing effort among the left to harrass veterans.
It's a college money this here in Texas. If you establish a residency anywhere outside of Texas, for any period of time, the colleges here want you to be a resident in that colleges district for one year. Texas residents live in districts assigned to community colleges. When you enroll in a community college, they have 2 rates, the rate if you live "in district", and an inflated rate if you live "out of district".
If you move, when you return, you have to be in that district for 1 year before you can pay the lower "in district" rates.
If you read the story, you see that he lived abroad, in Cali ect... and moved home. Well he has to pay the HUGE "out of District" rate for 1 year.
I have moved around in Texas, just changing countys, I had to go through the "1 year" peroid and pay the higher "out of district" rates.
Its all just a money game.
He is still a Texan ,,,, Welcome Home!!!!!
Hmmm. When we were stationed at Ft. Hood back in 1993 I attended U of Mary Hardin-Baylor. I qualified for in-state tuition because we were miltary. We did NOT have to live in the state for a certain amount of time.
By the way, the same was true for Kansas where I attended (and graduated from) Kansas State.
Something sounds a little fishy.
President of ACC with a email link at the bottom. Lets make sure he hears from us.
http://www.austincc.edu/pres/kinslbio.htm
There is a military exemption.
Many states don't claim income tax from military folks who are stationed out of state when serving just so long as they don't reside in the home state for more than 30 days in any given year.
So did I. There are military exemptions but it's less of a hassle to get local plates on the vehicle. Didn't really have a choice as I had Guam plates on the truck when I was transfered to California.
Congress does.
The Department of Justice should be down there in Texas beating heads against doors on this one, and dragging the bodies out to stack like cordwood on the commons (metaphorically speaking, of course).
Jim Kallstrom, yes that Jim Kallstrom, has announced that he will see to it that this hero's tuition will be paid.
Went to college in PA and was an ROTC cadet there. When he entered the military it was straight from college....in PA.
Didn't stop NJ from collecting income taxes from him.
Er ah, Ft. Dix is in NEW JERSEY
Well normally I am all up for busting heads, but in this case the Texas legislature could solve the problem "returning to the district" tuition with a simple banging of the hammer. If there is to be any busting heads and dragging them into the streets, send the DoJ to Crawford for an old fashion Hippie Smack-Down.
Duplicate thread er subject....albeit this one does have the Texas Gunslinger Babe Suzanna Hupp.....
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1465674/posts?page=12#12
Problem solved (I think)! I just saw on the 10 P.M. news here in San Antonio that it has been determined that he meets the criteria for an exemption to this rule. The Texas Land Commissioner is going to write a letter on his behalf.
There is just such an exemption for the military. Their official residency remains the one they claimed when they signed up and is not effected by the location of their assignments unless the voluntarily change their official residency.
I suspect that Mr. Basham listed Louisana as his state of residence when he joined and this is the likely source of his problem with documenting Texas citizenship.
Good! I am glad for the resolution. I have very little tolerance for educrats. We need to support these guys as they return home too us. If we do not let the enemy within feel our presence the next thing you know Americans will be calling them baby killers, spitting on them and it is 1972 all over again. I mean I was poking around the I.V.A.W. (Iraq Veterans Against War) site earlier. The I.V.A.W. is the V.V.A.W. (Vietnam Veterans Against War) re-warmed same old tireless tactics. I read a nameless accounting of a so called Iraqi Veteran who claims to have inadvertently killed a two year old. The V.V.A.W. was just a loose band of kooks until Jane & John came in and gave them money & credibility and then the next thing you know Americans are spitting on our heroes as they come home and we are pulling our troops and support out of South Vietnam and now without American support the South Vietnam Army does not have the resources it needs to defend itself. Saigon is re named Hochi Man City a millions are slaughtered millions more find them selves in so called re education camps or make shift boats where thousands more are lost at sea. Eventually the millions who do survive find them selves in new strange lands with without a cent to rebuild their lives. Sorry for the rant but I know that some of you younger folks have been indoctrinated by the educrats along with Hollywood who have continually perpetuated the Kerry lie that our Vietnam Veterans existed in a drug induced state of mind committing one atrocity after the next. Out of Dozens of movies portraying the Vietnam Soldier Mel Gibson was the only one to get it right with We Were Soldiers by Mel Gibson. So if you ever meet up with a Vietnam Veteran look him in the eye and welcome him home, thank him for his service, and the tears will well up in his eyes because chances are he has never heard these words before.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.