Democratic Virginia lawmakers yield to Youngkin pressure on military tuition

Virginia lawmakers have agreed to repeal new restrictions on a program providing free college tuition at state schools for families of veterans killed or seriously disabled during active duty.

Louise Lucas, chairwoman of the state Senate Finance Committee, and Luke Torian, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, announced they plan to introduce legislation to repeal changes to the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program in the two-year budget that took effect Monday. 

On July 18, members of the Senate and House will vote on this agreement.

In addition to the initial $40 million included in the state’s budget, the proposed legislation will allocate an extra $90 million in taxpayer funds to cover the program. Over the last five years, the program’s costs have increased from $12 million to $65 million. Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) celebrated the development Tuesday after working hard to make sure the program was funded.

“A full, clean repeal with additional financial support for the VMSDEP program, unencumbered by any other provisions, is great news for our military heroes, first responders, and their families,” Youngkin posted on X.

The program will allocate $65 million annually, with studies conducted by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

“This study and the allocation of what now will be $65 million per year for the program provides me with the comfort that we will not place the burden of the escalating cost of the program on other students through their tuition charges,” Lucas said in a statement.

In May, the Virginia General Assembly passed a budget deal that sought to address the program’s increasing costs. 

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They restricted eligibility to associate and undergraduate degrees, mandated applicants to seek other forms of financial aid, and tightened residency requirements.

Following protests from military families, the state House of Delegates voted last week to repeal these restrictions, but the Senate did not take any action despite meeting to discuss the issue twice in two weeks.