Virginia House votes to reverse changes to tuition program serving military families

The Virginia House of Delegates claps on the last day of the 2024 legislative session. (Charlie Paullin/Virginia Mercury)

The Virginia House of Delegates voted 92-0 Friday to reverse recent cost-cutting measures aimed at a state program that helps the families of killed or wounded soldiers go to college without paying tuition.

In a quick and drama-free morning at the Capitol, the House easily passed a repeal bill nearly every Democratic and Republican member had co-sponsored, drawing sustained applause from military families who had filled the House gallery to support its passage. 

The outrage many of those families have expressed over what they saw as an underhanded effort to strip benefits for military service is what drew delegates back to Richmond for a rare late June workday.

“It’s often been said if you find yourself in a hole you don’t want to be in, stop digging,” Del. Mike Cherry, R-Colonial Heights, said prior to the vote. “Today, I’m glad that we stopped digging.”

The legislation, which now faces an unclear fate in the Virginia Senate, would fully restore the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education program to its former state, before policymakers adopted narrower eligibility criteria for the program in May.

House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, said that as a veteran himself taking care of veterans is his “highest priority.” But he added he couldn’t predict how the Senate would react to the unanimous, bipartisan action by the House.

“Far be it from little old Don to ever presume what the Senate might do,” Scott said, adding that he’ll leave it to Senate Finance and Appropriations Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, to “work her magic.”

Last week, Lucas refused to docket a bill identical to what the House passed Friday. The Senate will reconvene Monday, and can either take up the bill the House approved or continue pursuing alternative proposals it has put forth that stop short of fully reversing the actions taken earlier this year.

In a show of numbers in favor of repealing the changes, nearly all 100 delegates and 20 senators signed on as patrons for the bill the House approved Friday.

The budget is set to take effect Monday with the start of a new fiscal year, but the Democratic-led General Assembly and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin haven’t agreed on the best way to respond to an outcry from military families and veteran groups angered by policymakers doing little to seek public feedback on a significant policy decision impacting veterans.

In a statement FridayThursday, Youngkin thanked the House for its vote and called for the Senate to support the bill fully reversing the VMSDEP changes.

“We must ensure that any potential changes to the program occur transparently in a regular legislative session with input from our valued veterans and their families,” the governor said.

The recent changes to the VMSDEP program — inspired by growing concerns in the higher education world that colleges and universities were being asked to enroll a rising number of students for free — impose a stricter Virginia residency requirement, prevent the waivers from being used for advanced degrees or a second undergraduate degree and require participants to first pursue other forms of financial aid before using the program.

The changes weren’t made through regular legislation subject to committee hearings, public feedback and a recorded vote by lawmakers on the VMSDEP issue alone. Instead, the changes were tucked into a nearly 700-page budget, a process advocates for veterans have blasted as lacking both transparency and input from the families directly impacted.

Democratic leaders in the Senate have been less eager to fully reverse the VMSDEP changes, arguing the costs of the program have ballooned so rapidly they’ve become too large to ignore or push off to a later date. Data presented at legislative hearings showed the financial impact of the program on universities had swelled from about $12 million in 2019 to more than $65 million in 2023. 

That growth came as more and more participants signed up for the benefit, partly due to the state ramping up efforts to market the VMSDEP program to military families who were eligible for it under the prior rules.

The Senate convened last week to take up the VMSDEP issue, but produced nothing to show for it after failing to take up any legislation. Senate leaders released a new proposal Thursday evening that would not fully reverse the changes but would instead delay them for a year and provide $45 million in funding to cover the cost to higher education institutions.

The Senate also called for legislative researchers to study the program and provide more comprehensive data on how it’s used.

“The House and Governor should accept this proposal, as it is the only solution that funds the cost of the program and provides an independent review of the data to help with additional program recommendations,” Lucas said in a news release.

Speaking to reporters after Friday’s vote, Scott, the House speaker, indicated more conversations may need to happen between the House and the Senate. He also said it’s possible the House will have to return at a later date if the Senate chooses to only pass the proposal it unveiled Thursday.

“If they vote on it and it comes to the House, we’ll give it due consideration at that time,” Scott said.

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