AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas House has agreed with changes made in the Senate on a bill to boost payments to people who are wrongfully convicted and sent to prison.
The House voted 132-13 for the measure Thursday. It now heads to Gov. Rick Perry.
The bill increases lump sum payments from $50,000 to $80,000 for every year of confinement and grants an annuity to provide a lifetime of income. Exonerees would get 120 hours of paid tuition at a career center or public college.
Senators removed a House plan to provide health insurance coverage for exonerees.
The legislation is named for Tim Cole, a Fort Worth man who died in prison in 1999 while serving time for a rape that DNA testing later showed he did not commit.
