Senate Bill No. 120
(By Senator Deem and Rowe)
____________
[Introduced January 10, 2002; referred to the Committee
on Military; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-one, article one-b,
chapter fifteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing
for the payment of tuition and fees to members of the
national guard who attend schools in this state approved
for veterans administration benefits.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-one, article one-b, chapter fifteen of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1B. NATIONAL GUARD.
§15-1B-21. Tuition and fees for guard members at institutions
of higher education.
(a) Any member of the national guard who is enrolled in a course of undergraduate study and is attending any accredited
college, university, business, or trade school or school
approved for veterans administration benefits located in West
Virginia or is attending any aviation school located in West
Virginia for the purpose of taking college-credit courses, may
be entitled to payment of tuitions and fees at that college,
university, business or trade school, or aviation school or
school approved for veterans administration benefits during the
period of his or her service in the national guard: Provided,
That the adjutant general may prescribe criteria of eligibility
for payment of tuition and fees at the college, university,
business or trade school, or aviation school or school approved
for veterans administration benefits: Provided, however, That
such payment is contingent upon appropriations being made by the
Legislature for this express purpose.
(b) The amount of the payment for members attending a
state-supported school shall be determined by the adjutant
general and may not exceed the actual amount of tuition and fees
at the school. The amount of such payment for members attending
a private school shall be determined by the adjutant general,
but in no event may exceed the highest amounts payable at any
state-supported school.
(c) Any member of the national guard who is enrolled in a course of postgraduate study and is attending any accredited
college or university located in West Virginia, and is receiving
payments under the army continuing education system, may be
entitled to payment of tuition and fees at that college or
university during his or her period of service in the national
guard: Provided, That the sum of payments received under this
subsection and the army continuing education system may not
exceed the actual amount of tuition and fees at the school and
in no event may exceed the highest amounts payable at any state-
supported school. Such payments are contingent upon
appropriations being made by the Legislature for this express
purpose.
(d) The adjutant general may, in lieu of the tuition payment
authorized by this section, pay an amount equal to the amount of
tuition which otherwise would have been paid, directly to
members of the West Virginia National Guard who are
participating in the PROMISE scholarship program provided for in
article seven, chapter eighteen-c of this code.
(e) The adjutant general shall administer the tuition and
fee payments authorized under this section and shall propose
policies to implement the provisions of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the payment of tuition and fees to national guard members who are enrolled
in schools located in the state that have been approved for
veterans administration benefits.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.