AB 239

This bill expands the definition of “eligible veteran” for the purposes of a tuition

and fee remission program for eligible veterans' spouses and children.

Current law provides for full remission of tuition and fees at technical colleges

and UW System institutions for up to eight semesters or 128 credits for the spouse

and 17-to-25-year-old children of eligible veterans. Under current law, an “eligible

veteran” is a military service member who suffered service-connected death or

disability and who either was a resident of this state when he or she entered military

service or satisfies one of the following: 1) if the veteran, while a resident of this state,

died on active duty, died as the result of a service-connected disability, or died in the

line of duty while on active or inactive duty for training purposes, the veteran resided

in this state for at least five consecutive years while an adult; or 2) if the veteran

received at least a 30 percent service-connected disability rating, the veteran

resided in this state for at least five consecutive years immediately before the

veteran's spouse or child registers at a technical college or a UW System institution.

In addition, if a veteran was not a resident of this state when he or she entered

military service, the veteran's spouse or child is eligible for tuition and fee remission

only if the spouse or child has resided in this state for at least five consecutive years

immediately before the spouse's or child's enrollment in a technical college or UW

System institution.

This bill expands the tuition and fee program's definition of “eligible veteran”

to include a person who has served on active duty for 20 or more years and who is on

active duty in the time immediately preceding the beginning of any semester or

session for which the person's spouse or child registers at a technical college or UW

System institution. In addition, the person must either have been a resident of this

state at the time of the person's entry into service or have resided in this state for at

least five consecutive years immediately preceding the beginning of any semester or

session for which the person's spouse or child registers at an institution. If the person

was not a resident of this state when he or she entered military service, the person's

spouse or child is eligible for tuition and fee remission only if the spouse or child has

resided in this state for at least five consecutive years immediately preceding the

spouse's or child's enrollment in a technical college or UW System institution.