The Virginia Senate adjourned a special session Tuesday without moving forward on legislation to change restrictions on a military family education program or legalize skill games, despite a commitment from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to work on those issues.
Senator Louise Lucas, the head of the Finance and Appropriations Committee, declined to propose legislation, instead announcing that a working group would meet on June 28 to address the issues surrounding the tuition waiver program. Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, would oversee the group, which will collect public comments and submit recommendations to the committee in mid-September.
Lucas also directed the Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission to review the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program, which waives tuition for children and spouses of some veterans killed or wounded in action, and to make recommendations by Nov. 1 to do.
“All of us — we all want to protect this program,” Lucas, a Portsmouth Democrat, said at the meeting. “We will look for a responsible solution together.”
The Virginia Senate later adjourned until Friday afternoon after a chaotic day of delays, confusion and no action on the issues lawmakers wanted to address.
Senate Democrats had announced a special session last week, and lawmakers on Sunday introduced a series of bills to address concerns about the tuition waiver program and to legalize and regulate slot machine-like skill games.
Speakers supporting the tuition waiver program blasted the committee for not submitting a full repeal of changes made this year that scaled back the applicability of the tuition waiver to rein in program costs.
“We cannot claim to protect women’s issues and blandly ignore our pain,” said Kristy McGinnis, a Virginia Beach veteran and program participant who speaks on behalf of women veterans.
Lucas explained her decision not to introduce bills on either issue. Glenn Youngkin indicated Monday that he would not sign the skills gaming legislation until the tuition program issue was resolved.
The Republican governor said in an emailed statement Tuesday that he was disappointed the Senate failed to fully repeal changes to the tuition waiver program and that he stood with military families.
“I stand today with our military heroes, first responders and their families who are dismayed that Senate Democratic leadership has failed to consider even a simple bill, supported by a bipartisan majority of Senators, to undo the changes in VMSDEP by fully repealing the language, and address this in the full light of day,” Youngkin said. “These men and women deserve so much better.”
The chaos on Tuesday included a delay of more than an hour at the start of the Finance Committee meeting, floor speeches from lawmakers questioning why attorneys bothered to show up to a hearing without any action and several procedural comments on attempts to adjourn the body. . The Senate returns on Friday.
House Speaker Don Scott previously announced that the House of Representatives would reconvene on June 28 to consider changes to the military tuition program. Scott confirmed via text message that these plans were still in place after Tuesday’s events.
During the full Senate session Tuesday, Republicans criticized the Finance Committee for not advancing any legislation.
“To say I am disappointed is an understatement,” said Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Fredericksburg.
Some lawmakers had also tried to use the special session to bring an uncertain issue back to the General Assembly: games of skill. Several skills gaming bills have been introduced but not passed Tuesday — one from Lucas and fellow Democrat Sen. Aaron Rouse of Virginia Beach and another from Sen. Christie New Craig, R-Chesapeake.
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The General Assembly initially banned games of skill in 2020, but then-Gov. Ralph Northam delayed implementation to help the state raise money for a COVID-19 relief fund. A lawsuit challenged the law, but proponents of the skill games lost and the ban went into effect late last year.
Lawmakers sent a bill legalizing skill games to Youngkin, but his amendments effectively banned the machines in most of the state, including Hampton Roads. He vetoed the legislation after the amendments were rejected.
While many lawmakers spoke of a desire to fix the tuition program, there seemed to be no agreement on how to proceed. Lucas’ bill on the tuition program changed the budget language to grandfather in all current program participants enrolling this fall, and also exempted Gold Star families: spouses and children of those who were killed, missing, captured or at least 90% permanent disabled as a result of military service or combat.
Two other bills would have repealed the program changes outright.
Lawmakers and Youngkin drew sharp criticism from military families, many from Hampton Roads, after the passed budget scaled back the military tuition program to lower costs for state colleges and universities.
Previously, the program provided tuition waivers and an annual stipend to spouses and children of veterans who died, went missing, were captured or became at least 90% permanently disabled as a result of their service. The budget imposed several program restrictions, such as requiring applicants to be Virginia residents and limiting program waivers to bachelor’s degrees. The budget also requires applicants to first apply for and utilize other sources of state and federal financial assistance.
During Tuesday’s session, Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Mount Vernon, explained that the program was created in 1930 to help families of soldiers in World War I. Over the years, the program has grown to include first responders and postgraduate training. degrees.
Costs for colleges and universities have also skyrocketed, he said. Participants can use the program to complete expensive courses such as law school or medical school at the University of Virginia.
“It jeopardizes the viability of the program because many of our smaller schools cannot afford it,” Surovell said.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
