SB170: Bill Text

LRB-1725/4

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2003 - 2004 LEGISLATURE

2003 Senate BILL 170

May 21, 2003 - Introduced by Senators Brown, Schultz, Zien, Welch, Decker, Stepp, S. Fitzgerald, A. Lasee, Roessler, Darling, George, Kedzie, Jauch, Kanavas, Breske, Wirch, Hansen, Leibham, Harsdorf, Carpenter, Plale and Lassa, cosponsored by Representatives Musser, Petrowski, Suder, Kreuser, Turner, Vrakas, Gronemus, Kreibich, Boyle, Pettis, Morris, Hahn, Owens, M. Lehman, Seratti, Balow, Miller, Young, Underheim, Travis, Montgomery, Bies, Hines, Rhoades, D. Meyer, Krawczyk, Kestell, Black, Ladwig, Loeffelholz, Johnsrud, Hebl, J. Fitzgerald, Ott, Freese, Townsend, Gunderson, Olsen, Van Roy, Wieckert, Stone, Ward, Hundertmark, Coggs, Nass, Schneider, Jeskewitz, Shilling, Huber, McCormick, Vukmir, J. Wood, Gundrum, Berceau, Kaufert, Plouff, Nischke, Richards, Zepnick, Towns, Huebsch, Colon and Sinicki. Referred to Committee on Homeland Security, Veterans and Military Affairs and Government Reform.

SB170,2,2 An Act to repeal 45.25 (2) (b), 45.396 (7) (a) 1. and 2., 45.396 (9) and 230.36 (2m) (a) 19.; to renumber and amend 45.396 (7) (a) (intro.); to amend 25.36 (1), 45.25 (2) (intro.) and (a), 45.25 (2) (c), 45.25 (2) (d), 45.25 (2) (e), 45.25 (3) (a), 45.25 (4) (a), 45.25 (4) (b), 45.25 (4) (c), 45.351 (1j), 45.356 (2), 45.356 (3), 45.356 (8), 45.358 (1) (b), 45.396 (5), 45.43 (7) (c), 45.71 (2) and 45.71 (16) (a) 2m. (intro.); to repeal and recreate 45.25 (3) (am); and to create 21.49 (4) (c), 45.25 (2m), 45.35 (20), 45.35 (21), 45.35 (22), 45.35 (23), 45.356 (10), 45.356 (11), 45.356 (12), 45.396 (2m), 45.79 (5) (a) 11., 45.79 (7) (a) 12. and 45.79 (13) of the statutes; relating to: the Veterans Mortgage Loan Program, veterans tuition and fee reimbursement, authority for the Department of Veterans Affairs to acquire a headquarters building, departmental delivery of services to veterans, veterans personal loans, eligibility for burial at a veterans cemetery, part-time study grants for veterans, housing loans for veterans, mortgage loan repayment fund, grants to county veteran service offices, national guard tuition grants, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill makes various changes related to educational grant programs for veterans. Under the bill:

1. The maximum tuition and fees reimbursement to a veteran under the Tuition and Fee Reimbursement Program for full-time attendance at an institution of higher education, a vocational school approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), a proprietary school approved by the Educational Approval Board, or a school under the Minnesota-Wisconsin student reciprocity agreement is increased from 85% to 100% of the standard cost for a state resident at an equivalent undergraduate course at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

2. The same maximum reimbursement is provided to veterans for tuition and fees for correspondence courses and part-time classroom study under the Part-time Study Grant Program.

3. The family income eligibility for these educational grant programs is raised from $47,500 plus $500 for each dependent in excess of two dependents to $50,000 plus $1,000 for each dependent in excess of two dependents.

4. To be eligible for tuition and fee reimbursement under the Tuition and Fee Reimbursement Program, the veteran must complete the course during a semester that started within ten years after the veteran's separation from the U.S. Armed Forces.

This bill allows DVA to acquire property for DVA's headquarters.

For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB170, s. 1 Section 1. 21.49 (4) (c) of the statutes is created to read:

SB170,2,5 21.49 (4) (c) No guard member may receive a grant under sub. (3) for any semester in which he or she received a grant under s. 45.25.

SB170, s. 2 Section 2. 25.36 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB170,3,16 25.36 (1) Except as provided in sub. (2), all moneys appropriated or transferred by law shall constitute the veterans trust fund which shall be used for the lending of money to the mortgage loan repayment fund under s. 45.35 (22) and for the veterans programs under ss. 20.485 (2) (m), (mn), (tm), (u), (v), (vo), (w), (z), and (zm), 45.014, 45.25, 45.35 (23), 45.351 (1), 45.353, 45.356, 45.357, 45.396, 45.397, and 45.43 (7) and administered by the department of veterans affairs, including all moneys received from the federal government for the benefit of veterans or their dependents; all moneys paid as interest on and repayment of loans under the post-war rehabilitation fund; soldiers rehabilitation fund, veterans housing funds as they existed prior to July 1, 1961; all moneys paid as interest on and repayment of loans under this fund; all moneys paid as expenses for, interest on, and repayment of veterans trust fund stabilization loans under s. 45.356, 1995 stats.; all moneys paid as expenses for, interest on, and repayment of veterans personal loans; the net proceeds from the sale of mortgaged properties related to veterans personal loans; all mortgages issued with the proceeds of the 1981 veterans home loan revenue bond issuance purchased with moneys in the veterans trust fund; all moneys received from the state investment board under s. 45.356 (9) (b); all moneys received from the veterans mortgage loan repayment fund under s. 45.79 (7) (a) and (c); and all gifts of money received by the board of veterans affairs for the purposes of this fund.

SB170, s. 3 Section 3. 45.25 (2) (intro.) and (a) of the statutes are amended to read:

SB170,3,19 45.25 (2) Eligibility. (intro.) An individual A veteran is eligible for the tuition and fee reimbursement program if he or she meets all of the following criteria:

SB170,3,21 (a) The annual income of the individual veteran and his or her spouse does not exceed the amount under s. 45.396 (7) (a).

SB170, s. 4 Section 4. 45.25 (2) (b) of the statutes is repealed.

SB170, s. 5 Section 5. 45.25 (2) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB170,4,3 45.25 (2) (c) The individual veteran applies for the tuition and fee reimbursement program for courses completed during a semester that started within 10 years after separation from the service.

SB170, s. 6 Section 6. 45.25 (2) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB170,4,12 45.25 (2) (d) The individual veteran is a resident at the time of application for the tuition and fee reimbursement program and was a Wisconsin resident at the time of entry or reentry into service or was a resident for any consecutive 12-month period after entry or reentry into service and before the date of his or her application. If a person applying for a benefit under this section meets the residency requirement of 12 consecutive months, the department may not require the person to reestablish that he or she meets that residency requirement when he or she later applies for any other benefit under this chapter that requires that residency.

SB170, s. 7 Section 7. 45.25 (2) (e) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB170,4,15 45.25 (2) (e) The individual veteran is enrolled for at least 12 credits during the semester for which reimbursement is sought.

SB170, s. 8 Section 8. 45.25 (2m) of the statutes is created to read:

SB170,4,23 45.25 (2m) Exceptions to eligibility. A course at the institution or school that the veteran attends that has been approved for credit through the department's Academic Credit for Military Experience Program, which evaluates military experience and determines the academic credit for that experience, is not eligible for reimbursement under this section. The credits approved for courses under the Academic Credit for Military Experience Program may not be counted toward the 12-credit requirement under sub. (2) (e).

SB170, s. 9 Section 9. 45.25 (3) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB170,5,14 45.25 (3) (a) Except as provided in par. (am), an individual A veteran who meets the requirements under sub. (2), upon satisfactory completion of a full-time undergraduate semester in any institution of higher education, as defined in s. 45.396 (1) (a), in this state, any school that is approved under s. 45.35 (9m), any proprietary school that is approved under s. 45.54, or any institution from which the individual veteran receives a waiver of nonresident tuition under s. 39.47, may be reimbursed an amount receive tuition and fee reimbursement. The amount of the reimbursement may not to exceed the total cost of the individual's veteran's tuition and fees minus any grants or scholarships, including those made under s. 21.49, that the individual veteran receives specifically for the payment of the tuition or fees, or 85% 100% of the standard cost for a state resident for an equivalent undergraduate course at the University of Wisconsin-Madison per course, whichever is less. Reimbursement is available only for tuition and fees that are part of a curriculum that is relevant to a degree in a particular course of study at the institution.

SB170, s. 10 Section 10. 45.25 (3) (am) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:

SB170,5,18 45.25 (3) (am) Reimbursement of tuition and fees for a course may be provided at an institution or school under par. (a) other than the one from which the veteran is receiving his or her degree if all of the following apply:

SB170,5,20 1. The curriculum at the institution or school consists only of courses necessary to complete a degree in a particular course of study.

SB170,5,23 2. The course is accepted as transfer credits at the institution or school listed under par. (a) from which the veteran is receiving his or her degree but is not available at that institution or school.

SB170, s. 11 Section 11. 45.25 (4) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB170,6,8 45.25 (4) (a) An individual A veteran is not eligible for reimbursement under sub. (2) for more than 120 credits or 8 full semesters of full-time study at any institution of higher education, as defined in s. 45.396 (1) (a), in this state, 60 credits or 4 full semesters of full-time study at any institution of higher education, as defined in s. 45.396 (1) (a), in this state that offers a degree upon completion of 60 credits, or an equivalent amount of credits at a school that is approved under s. 45.35 (9m), at a proprietary school that is approved under s. 45.54, or at an institution where he or she is receiving a waiver of nonresident tuition under s. 39.47.

SB170, s. 12 Section 12. 45.25 (4) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB170,6,15 45.25 (4) (b) The department may provide reimbursement under sub. (2) to an individual a veteran who is delinquent in child support or maintenance payments or who owes past support, medical expenses or birth expenses, as established by appearance of the individual's veteran's name on the statewide support lien docket under s. 49.854 (2) (b), only if the individual veteran provides the department with one of the following:

SB170,6,19 1. A repayment agreement that the individual veteran has entered into, that has been accepted by the county child support agency under s. 59.53 (5) and that has been kept current for the 6-month period immediately preceding the date of the application.

SB170,6,23 2. A statement that the individual veteran is not delinquent in child support or maintenance payments and does not owe past support, medical expenses or birth expenses, signed by the department of workforce development or its designee within 7 working days before the date of the application.

SB170, s. 13 Section 13. 45.25 (4) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB170,7,2 45.25 (4) (c) An individual A veteran may not receive reimbursement under sub. (2) for any semester in which he or she received a grant under s. 21.49 or 45.396.

SB170, s. 14 Section 14. 45.35 (20) of the statutes is created to read:

SB170,7,6 45.35 (20) Department headquarters. The department may acquire by gift, purchase, or condemnation property for the purposes of providing a headquarters building for the department.

SB170, s. 15 Section 15. 45.35 (21) of the statutes is created to read: