HB0088 - National guard educational assistance.
2001 |
State of Wyoming |
01LSO-0018 |
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0088
National guard educational assistance.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Illoway, Edwards,
Huckfeldt, Johnson,
W., Petersen and Ross
and Senator(s)
Anderson, J., Boggs, Hanes,
Harris, Kunz,
Miller, C. and Peck
A BILL
for
1 AN ACT relating to the
Wyoming national guard; establishing
2 an
educational assistance plan for national guard members;
3
specifying plan criteria, requirements and administration;
4
granting rulemaking authority; providing an appropriation;
5 and
providing for an effective date.
6
7 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
8
9 Section 1. W.S. 19-9-501
through 19-9-504 are created
10 to read:
11
12 ARTICLE 5
13 EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE
14
Page 1
1 19-9-501. Educational assistance for
national guard
2 members; administration of
plan.
3
4 The Wyoming national
guard educational assistance plan is
5
established to provide assistance for qualified members of
6 the
Wyoming national guard who enroll in institutions of
7
higher education in this state.
The plan shall be
8
administered by the adjutant general in accordance with the
9
provisions of this article. The
adjutant general shall
10 promulgate rules for the administration,
implementation and
11 proper utilization of the plan.
12
13 19-9-502. Definitions.
14
15 (a) As used in this article:
16
17 (i) "Authorized courses" means:
18
19 (A) Credit
courses which meet undergraduate
20 or graduate degree requirements; and
21
22 (B) Credit
courses which meet requirements
23 for completion of vocational or technical
training for a
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1
declared educational objective meeting requirements of
2
rules promulgated pursuant to this article.
3
4 (ii) "Federal
tuition assistance" means any
5
payment made to or on behalf of a member by the federal
6
government for educational assistance, excluding benefits
7
paid pursuant to the Montgomery GI Bill;
8
9 (iii) "Member"
means an active, in good
10 standing, member of the Wyoming national
guard;
11
12 (iv) "Montgomery
GI Bill" means the federal
13 Montgomery GI Bill Act of 1984, Public Law
98 – 525 and
14 subsequent amendments thereto;
15
16 (v) "Plan"
means the educational assistance plan
17 established under this article;
18
19 (vi) "Wyoming
institution of higher education"
20 or "institution" means a public or
private educational
21 institution located within this state and
approved for
22 payment of Montgomery GI Bill benefits;
23
Page 3
1 (vii) "Wyoming
public institutions of higher
2
education" means the University of Wyoming and Wyoming
3
community colleges.
4
5 19-9-503. Requirements for educational
assistance;
6 assistance payments.
7
8 (a) Subject to
legislative appropriation and in
9
accordance with the provisions of this article, the
10 adjutant general or his designee, may
authorize the payment
11 of higher education tuition and mandatory
fees for active
12 members of the Wyoming national guard. To be eligible to
13 participate in the plan members shall:
14
15 (i) Have
completed basic military training or
16 officer training;
17
18 (ii) Meet the
standards for satisfactory
19 participation in the active Wyoming national
guard at the
20 beginning of and throughout the entire
academic term for
21 which assistance is received;
22
23 (iii) Be
committed through an enlistment
24 contract or other written agreement to
membership in the
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1
active Wyoming national guard for not less than six (6)
2
years;
3
4 (iv) Agree in
writing to serve in the active
5
Wyoming national guard for two (2) years after the last day
6 of
the last academic term for which assistance is received
7
under the plan. This two (2) year period of service may be
8
within the six (6) year commitment period required by
9
paragraph (iii) of this subsection;
10
11 (v) Have
declared an academic major or
12 educational objective; and
13
14 (vi) Meet the
academic standards specified in
15 this paragraph and otherwise be in good
standing as
16 determined by the institution of higher
education pursuant
17 to a published policy. Any member receiving educational
18 assistance under the plan who fails to earn
a cumulative
19 grade point average at least equivalent to
2.0 on a 4.0
20 scale shall be ineligible for educational
assistance under
21 the plan until the member attains that
cumulative grade
22 point average.
23
Page 5
1 (b) Members
meeting the requirements of subsection
2 (a)
of this section may receive educational assistance
3
benefit payments as follows:
4
5 (i) For
authorized courses at a Wyoming public
6
institution of higher education, payment may be made for up
7 to
the full cost of tuition and mandatory fees;
8
9 (ii) For
authorized courses at a Wyoming private
10 institution of higher education, payment may
be made for
11 the lesser of the actual costs of tuition
and mandatory
12 fees or an amount equal to the average
resident tuition and
13 mandatory fee charges of all Wyoming public
institutions of
14 higher education for an undergraduate
student enrolled for
15 twelve (12) semester hours;
16
17 (iii) Eligible
members who are not Wyoming
18 residents may receive benefits as provided
in paragraphs
19 (i) and (ii) of this subsection, but the
benefit payment
20 shall not exceed the amount of tuition and
mandatory fees
21 which would have been charged if the member
were a Wyoming
22 resident;
23
Page 6
1 (iv) Payment
shall be made directly to the
2
institution after the institution officially certifies that
3 the
member has registered;
4
5 (v) Payments
under the plan together with any
6 federal
tuition assistance received by the member shall not
7
exceed one hundred percent (100%) of the tuition and
8
mandatory fees charged.
9
10 19-9-504. Restrictions; repayment of benefits.
11
12 (a) Plan
participation and benefit payments shall be
13 subject to the following additional
restrictions and
14 qualifications:
15
16 (i) The plan
may be used to complete only one
17 (1) degree, certificate or other educational
objective;
18
19 (ii) Participation
shall be limited to the
20 earlier of:
21
22 (A) A period of
ten (10) years from the
23 date of the participant's initial enrollment
in the plan;
24 or
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1
2 (B) The
participant's completion of his one
3 (1)
degree, certificate or other educational objective.
4
5 (iii) Any member
receiving educational
6
assistance under the plan who fails to maintain
7
satisfactory participation in the active Wyoming national
8
guard shall repay all educational assistance granted under
9 the
plan for that current academic term.
The member shall
10 be ineligible for educational assistance
under the plan
11 until the adjutant general has determined
that the member
12 meets the minimum requirements for
satisfactory membership
13 in the Wyoming national guard;
14
15 (iv) Any member
who has received assistance
16 under the plan and who fails to complete the
initial six
17 (6) year commitment required by W.S. 19-9-503(a)(iii)
and
18 maintain satisfactory participation in the
active Wyoming
19 national guard for the two (2) year period
required by W.S.
20 19-9-503(a)(iv), shall repay all educational
assistance
21 received under the plan.
22
23 (b) The
adjutant general may promulgate rules waiving
24 repayment otherwise required under
subsection (a) of this
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1
section for death, incapacity or other good cause shown.
2 The
adjutant general shall immediately transmit all
3
repayments of benefits under the plan to the state
4
treasurer for deposit in the state general fund.
5
6 Section
2. W.S. 19-7-103(b) by creating a new
7
paragraph (xx) is amended to read:
8
9 19-7-103. Adjutant general;
appointment; rank;
10 removal; duties and qualifications.
11
12 (b) The
adjutant general of Wyoming shall have powers
13 and duties and be paid a salary as follows:
14
15 (xx) He shall administer the Wyoming national
16 guard
educational assistance plan in accordance with W.S.
17 19-9-501
through 19-9-504.
18
19 Section
3. Two
million dollars ($2,000,000.00) is
20 appropriated from the general fund
to the adjutant general
21 for the Wyoming national guard
educational assistance plan
22 during the 2001-2002 academic year.
23
Page 9
1 Section 4. This act is effective July 1, 2001.
2
3 (END)
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