By Austin Fisher
KU Statehouse Wire Service
TOPEKA — The Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs asked the House to consider a bill that would give veterans and their families stationed in Kansas in-state tuition to public colleges, even if they’re not originally from Kansas.
Testifying before the Veterans, Military and Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Becky Hutchins (R-Holton) said the bill would put Kansas in compliance with the federal Veterans, Choice and Accountability Act, also called the Choice Act.
Regardless of formal residence, the Choice Act covers veterans and their spouses or children who enroll in a higher learning institution wherever they’re stationed within three years after the veteran has been discharged from 90 or more days of service. Surviving spouses or children receiving Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship benefits can enroll within three years after the veteran has died in the line of duty.
“Say you’re stationed here and your daughter wants to go to KU, it would address some of those issues,” Hutchins said. “If her father is currently a veteran and fighting in a foreign country for our freedoms, I think it’s the honorable thing to do.”
Wayne Bollig, deputy director of the Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs, said the law would mirror a Texas statute that complies with the Choice Act. According to the advocacy organization Student Veterans of America, Texas is one of 27 states that provide in-state tuition to veterans, and the only state that is fully compliant with the Choice Act.
Bollig said veterans received almost $104 million in education benefits and more than $559 million in medical benefits in fiscal year 2014.
Commission Director Gregg Burden said their mission is to assist Kansas’ nearly quarter million veterans and their families with “education, health, vocational guidance and placement, and economic security,” and to ensure Kansas remains a “veteran-friendly state.” Through its State Veteran Services Program, the Commission will assist veterans, relatives, and survivors to obtain the maximum amount of federal and state benefits.
After veterans retire, the Commission provides long-term health care through their Veterans’ Home Program.
Burden, who served in the military for 26 years, was appointed by Gov. Sam Brownback when the Commission replaced the Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs in July 2014.
Pam Rodriguez, chief financial officer of the Commission, said her office is asking the House committee to lift spending caps that currently require the Commission to carry over revenue from veterans’ fees and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to the next fiscal year.
“That’s money that we could be spending on veterans,” Rodriguez said.
Rep. Carolyn Bridges (D-Wichita) said she hopes the new law will encourage out-of-state veterans to stick around after college.
“The idea is that once they get out of school, they will call Kansas their home,” she said.
Austin Fisher is a University of Kansas senior from Lawrence majoring in journalism. He can be reached at [email protected].