RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Leaders in the Democratic-controlled House of Delegates and State Senate have reached an agreement to introduce identical bills repealing previous changes to the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program (VMSDEP).
In May, lawmakers made the program, which waives college tuition for the kids and spouses of qualified disabled military veterans, harder for families to access. However, soon after making the changes, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the House and a majority of the Senate agreed that the changes should be repealed.
The House passed a repeal plan last week but the Democratic-controlled Senate failed to pass a repeal twice in the last month, including yesterday.
However, Senate leadership is changing its course.
In an announcement made at 5:20 p.m. Tuesday, Democratic leaders said that, not only would the agreed-upon legislation fully repeal the changes made to VMSDEP in the budget approval process earlier this year, it would also provide for $90 million from the fiscal year 2024 surplus to offset the costs of the program — contributing to $65 million each year of the 2024-2026 biennium.
“House and Senate leadership previously agreed to a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) study, and JLARC committed to the study on Monday,” said Sen. L. Louise Lucas, Chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. “This study and the allocation of what will now be $65 million per year for the program provides me with the comfort that we will not place the burden of the escalating costs of the program on other students through their tuition charges. Making education affordable for all students is a priority for us all. The JLARC study and our select workgroup on VMSDEP will provide us with the answers we need to ensure this program will be sustainable long-term to serve veterans and their families.”
“This agreement ensures that there is a full repeal of the changes adopted in May to the VMSDEP and related tuition waivers and provides financial certainty for military families attending college as I had hoped for,” said Del. Luke E. Torian, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee. “Both bodies have listened to our constituents and we look forward to working together in the interim on this and other issues.”
The House and Senate have both agreed to return at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 18, to consider the two identical bills.
Youngkin, reacting to news of the deal, said on X that “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.”
Before the announcement — ‘We are living a political nightmare’: Veterans families left fuming after Senate fails to take action VMSDEP once again
Ahead of the announcement, Democrats and Republicans appeared to be escalating the political blame game as to who was responsible for the failure of an earlier version of the bill in the Senate on Monday.
“If you ask the folks in the gallery if we are at war right now, I’m sure they would tell you, yes we are,” said Sen. Bryce Reeves (R-Orange) on the Senate floor.
Senate Democrats said they had a solution that could have been voted on Monday if Republicans were willing to play along. However, Republicans said because that solution wasn’t a full repeal — it required students to show satisfactory academic progress — they couldn’t support it.
“We have a bill that would solve everyone’s problems, would answer all the questions,” Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D- Fairfax) said. “It would repeal all the changes, but instead, we are not going to vote on it today because of a procedural objection that could have easily been waived.”
On Tuesday morning, there was also a debate over how the issue even started. Gov. Glenn Youngkin said on Good Morning Richmond on Tuesday that changes to the program were “tucked into the budget.”
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Delegate Luke Torian (D-Prince William) said that wasn’t the case and that “it is the responsibility of the Governor and his staff to read the entire budget so that they understand what’s in the budget.”
Military veterans and their families had been left fuming after the Democratic-controlled Virginia State Senate once again failed to pass any legislation repealing recently made changes to the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program.
“We are living a political nightmare, Groundhog Day,” said Kayla Owen, founder of the Friends of VMSDEP.
In May, lawmakers made the program — which waives college tuition for the kids and spouses of qualified disabled military veterans — harder for families to access.
Last week, the House of Delegates voted to fully repeal those changes.
Meanwhile in the Senate, on Monday, Democrats advanced a bill that would repeal the changes but still require students to make satisfactory academic progress.
However, Republicans — who were against the bill because it was not a full repeal — decided against supporting a procedural move that would have allowed the bill to proceed to final passage.
“We had a bill from the House that had a full repeal from the House — everybody agreed to it,” Owen said. “Now the House is going to [have to] come back again. The Senate is going to have to come back again. This is wasting taxpayer dollars right here. …
“I don’t understand why a few key people have the power to keep stopping this and blocking it — and I want to know, ‘What is their intent?’”
