ORIGINAL HOUSE
BILL NO. 0088
ENROLLED ACT NO.
53, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FIFTY-SIXTH
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2001
GENERAL SESSION
AN ACT relating to the
Wyoming national guard; establishing
an educational
assistance plan for national guard members;
specifying plan
criteria, requirements and administration;
granting
rulemaking authority; and providing for an
effective date.
Be It Enacted
by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section
1. W.S.
19-9-501 through 19-9-504 are created
to read:
ARTICLE 5
EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE
19-9-501. Educational assistance for
national guard
members;
administration of plan.
The Wyoming national guard
educational assistance plan is
established to provide
assistance for qualified members of
the Wyoming national
guard who enroll in institutions of
higher education in
this state. The plan shall be
administered by the
adjutant general in accordance with the
provisions of this
article. The adjutant general shall
promulgate rules for
the administration, implementation and
proper utilization of
the plan.
19-9-502. Definitions.
(a) As used in
this article:
(i) "Authorized
courses" means:
(A) Credit
courses which meet undergraduate
or graduate degree
requirements; and
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(B) Credit
courses which meet requirements
for completion of
vocational or technical training for a
declared educational
objective meeting requirements of
rules promulgated
pursuant to this article.
(ii) "Federal
tuition assistance" means any
payment made to or on
behalf of a member by the federal
government for
educational assistance, excluding benefits
paid pursuant to the
Montgomery GI Bill;
(iii) "Member"
means an active, in good
standing, member of
the Wyoming national guard;
(iv) "Montgomery
GI Bill" means the federal
Montgomery GI Bill Act
of 1984, Public Law 98 – 525 and
subsequent amendments
thereto;
(v) "Plan"
means the educational assistance plan
established under this
article;
(vi) "Wyoming
institution of higher education"
or
"institution" means a public or private educational
institution located
within this state and approved for
payment of Montgomery
GI Bill benefits;
(vii) "Wyoming
public institutions of higher
education" means
the University of Wyoming and Wyoming
community colleges.
19-9-503. Requirements for educational
assistance;
assistance
payments.
(a) Subject to legislative
appropriation and in
accordance with the
provisions of this article, the
adjutant general or
his designee, may authorize the payment
of higher education
tuition and mandatory fees for active
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members of
the Wyoming national guard. To be eligible
to
participate in the
plan members shall:
(i) Have
completed basic military training or
officer training;
(ii) Meet the
standards for satisfactory
participation in the
active Wyoming national guard at the
beginning of and
throughout the entire academic term for
which assistance is
received;
(iii) Be
committed through an enlistment
contract or other
written agreement to membership in the
active Wyoming
national guard for not less than six (6)
years;
(iv) Agree in
writing to serve in the active
Wyoming national guard
for two (2) years after the last day
of the last academic
term for which assistance is received
under the plan. This
two (2) year period of service may be
within the six (6)
year commitment period required by
paragraph (iii) of
this subsection;
(v) Have
declared an academic major or
educational objective;
and
(vi) Meet the
academic standards specified in
this paragraph and
otherwise be in good standing as
determined by the
institution of higher education pursuant
to a published
policy. Any member receiving
educational
assistance under the
plan who fails to earn a cumulative
grade point average at
least equivalent to 2.0 on a 4.0
scale shall be
ineligible for educational assistance under
the plan until the
member attains that cumulative grade
point average.
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(b) Members
meeting the requirements of subsection
(a) of this section
may receive educational assistance
benefit payments as
follows:
(i) For
authorized courses at a Wyoming public
institution of higher
education, payment may be made for up
to the full cost of
tuition and mandatory fees;
(ii) For
authorized courses at a Wyoming private
institution of higher
education, payment may be made for
the lesser of the
actual costs of tuition and mandatory
fees or an amount
equal to the average resident tuition and
mandatory fee charges
of all Wyoming public institutions of
higher education for
an undergraduate student enrolled for
twelve (12) semester
hours;
(iii) Eligible
members who are not Wyoming
residents may receive
benefits as provided in paragraphs
(i) and (ii) of this
subsection, but the benefit payment
shall not exceed the
amount of tuition and mandatory fees
which would have been
charged if the member were a Wyoming
resident;
(iv) Payment
shall be made directly to the
institution after the
institution officially certifies that
the member has
registered;
(v) Payments
under the plan together with any
federal tuition
assistance received by the member shall not
exceed one hundred
percent (100%) of the tuition and
mandatory fees
charged.
19-9-504. Restrictions; repayment of
benefits.
Page
4
(a) Plan
participation and benefit payments shall be
subject to the
following additional restrictions and
qualifications:
(i) The plan
may be used to complete only one
(1) degree,
certificate or other educational objective;
(ii) Participation
shall be limited to the
earlier of:
(A) A period of
ten (10) years from the
date of the
participant's initial enrollment in the plan;
or
(B) The
participant's completion of his one
(1) degree,
certificate or other educational objective.
(iii) Any member
receiving educational
assistance under the
plan who fails to maintain
satisfactory
participation in the active Wyoming national
guard shall repay all
educational assistance granted under
the plan for that
current academic term. The member shall
be ineligible for
educational assistance under the plan
until the adjutant general
has determined that the member
meets the minimum
requirements for satisfactory membership
in the Wyoming
national guard;
(iv) Any member
who has received assistance
under the plan and who
fails to complete the initial six
(6) year commitment required
by W.S. 19-9-503(a)(iii) and
maintain satisfactory
participation in the active Wyoming
national guard for the
two (2) year period required by W.S.
19-9-503(a)(iv), shall
repay all educational assistance
received under the
plan.
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(b) The adjutant
general may promulgate rules waiving
repayment otherwise
required under subsection (a) of this
section for death,
incapacity or other good cause shown.
The adjutant general
shall immediately transmit all
repayments of benefits
under the plan to the state
treasurer for deposit
in the state general fund.
Section 2. W.S. 19-7-103(b) by creating a new
paragraph (xx) is amended to read:
19-7-103. Adjutant general;
appointment; rank;
removal;
duties and qualifications.
(b) The
adjutant general of Wyoming shall have powers
and duties and be paid
a salary as follows:
(xx) He shall
administer the Wyoming national
guard educational
assistance plan in accordance with W.S.
19-9-501 through 19-9-504.
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Section 3. This act is effective July 1, 2001.
(END)
Speaker of
the House President of
the Senate
Governor
TIME APPROVED: _________
DATE APPROVED: _________
I hereby certify that this act originated in the
House.
Chief Clerk
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