As I read the article, Mr. Patterson seems to be saying that this law is intended to apply to veterans who are legal "green-card" holders AND Texas residents at the time they entered service. This is not the same as waiving tuition and fees for ALL veterans, regardless of where they entered service, who are NOW Texas residents.
For example, me. I entered service in 1982 in another state, became a Texas resident in 1998, and retired here in 2005. Currently I am not eligible for free tuition because I was not a Texas resident at the time I entered service. It seems to me that when Mr. Patterson is referring to "Texas veterans" he means people who were Texans first and veterans later (as opposed to me, who did it the other way around).
The one paragraph that gives me hope that it's ME that's wrong is when he talks about the Veterans Land Board and the cemetaries. I AM eligible for those, so maybe he really does mean guys like me would fall under whatever change to the law he proposes. Would be fine by me!
elb