To provide public employment retirement credits and education fee waivers for veterans of the Afghanistan conflict and the Persian Gulf War II.   Official Text and Analysis.

By Senator Paull Shin, prime sponsor; and Timothy Boyce, citizen. They testified that these young people go where they are sent and sometimes sacrifice their lives. This bill is the least we can do for the veterans who have fought for this country and done their duty. We owe them this. Veterans have had to come back and sometimes start their lives over and that sometimes means going back to school. This waiver would help these veterans get the retraining they need so that they can have a future, rebuild their lives, and contribute. While budget issues are a concern because of the number of people this would impact, that was also the case with Vietnam veterans.

By Chris Reykdal, SBCTC, who testified that while not opposed to the bill, the community and technical colleges do want to offer words of caution. This could have a large financial impact on the community and technical college system. The deployment for these conflicts was substantial and it will have an impact. Even though these waivers are permissive, we are not going to turn down one group of veterans while we have waived tuition for others. It will end up having an impact and basically being a budget cut. We believe that we need to look at this issue more holistically. There is currently a bill in the House that would look at veterans waivers as a whole and treat all veterans alike that might be a better vehicle.

To modify definitions in the original bill.

By the House Appropriations Committee, to eliminate provisions authorizing higher education institutions to exempt veterans of the Afghanistan conflict, or veterans who served in the second Persian Gulf combat zone from tuition and fees. It changes qualification as a veteran from those that served in the combat zone, to those who received the respective campaign badge or medal in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom.

To concur in House amendments.

To provide public employment retirement credits and education fee waivers for veterans of the Afghanistan conflict and the Persian Gulf War II.