BILL NUMBER: SJR 16INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Denham (Coauthors: Senators Aanestad, Alquist, Correa, Cox, Huff, Maldonado, Negrete McLeod, Runner, Strickland, Wiggins, Wright, and Wyland) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Tom Berryhill, Cook, Davis, DeVore, Fletcher, Fong, Gaines, Gilmore, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Salas, and Smyth) JUNE 29, 2009 Relative to veterans' educational benefits. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SJR 16, as introduced, Denham. Veterans: educational benefits. This measure would request that the President and the Congress of the United States pass the H.R. 2474 that would restore funding for California veterans pursuing higher education. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, In 2008, Congress passed the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 to expand educational benefits to veterans of the war on terror. A veteran can receive a grant of up to the maximum tuition and fees charged to an in-state undergraduate student attending a public institution in his or her particular state. The benefit can be used at either a public or private institution; and WHEREAS, Under California law, public institutions of higher education may not charge tuition to in-state residents. Because California's public institutions of higher education charge no tuition, their fees are often considerably higher than the amount of fees charged by private institutions that are permitted to levy a tuition cost. Based on the amount charged by public institutions to California's in-state residents, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs has determined the maximum tuition benefit to be zero dollars ($0), while the maximum fee benefit can equal up to six thousand five hundred eighty-six dollars and fifty-four cents ($6,586.54); and WHEREAS, In California, veterans receive no tuition benefit and are often only allowed to use a fraction of their fee allotment at a private institution of higher education. For a student attending Stanford University, with an approximate tuition cost of thirty-seven thousand dollars ($37,000) and fees of one thousand dollars ($1,000), a California veteran would receive no benefit to defray the cost of tuition and would only be able to access one thousand dollars ($1,000) in fee benefits to cover that portion of the cost; and WHEREAS, The federal Veterans Educational Equity Act ensures California veterans are able to access the full benefit calculated under the law, rather than limiting their funding because of the state's zero tuition policy. The full benefit, tuition plus fees, can be used to offset the full cost of the tuition plus fees. Thus, the bill ensures California veterans can use up to the full six thousand five hundred eighty-six dollars and fifty-four cent ($6,586.54) benefit calculated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, similar to the benefits enjoyed by other veterans in other states; and WHEREAS, H.R. 2474 by California Congressman McKeon seeks to remedy the loophole that denies California veterans their educational benefits; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California respectfully requests the President and the Congress of the United States to pass H.R. 2474 that would restore funding for California veterans pursuing higher education; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the Senate, and each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.