HCSHB2543--TUITIONRATESFORMILITARY
SPONSOR: O'Donnell
COMMITTEEACTION:Voted"DoPasswithHCS"bytheStanding
CommitteeonVeteransbyavoteof13to0.
ThefollowingisasummaryoftheHouseCommitteeSubstituteforHB
2543.
Asspecifiedinthisbill,anyindividualorthedependent,as
definedinthebill,ofanindividualinactivemilitaryservice,
asdefinedinthebill,orwhowashonorablydischargedor
separatedfromactivemilitaryserviceorwhoisintheprocessof
separatingfromactivemilitaryservicewithanhonorabledischarge
orageneraldischargewhoisacceptedforadmissionbyanydegree
program,trainingprogram,orcourseofinstruction,whethersuch
programorcourseisanundergraduateorgraduateprogramorcourse
andisofferedintheclassroom,online,orbyahybridofboth,at
anyapprovedpublicfour-yearorapprovedtwo-yearinstitution
shallnotbechargedarateoftuitionthatexceedstherateofin-
statetuitionatsuchapprovedpublicfour-yearinstitutionin
Missouriorin-state,in-districttuitionatsuchapprovedtwo-year
institutioninMissouri.
Thefollowingisasummaryofthepublictestimonyfromthe
committeehearing. Thetestimonywasbasedontheintroduced
versionofthebill.
PROPONENTS: Supporterssaythatundercurrentlaw,thereare
situationswhereanindividualusingeducationalbenefitsthrough
VeteransAffairsprogramswillbegivenin-statetuitionratesand
subsequentlywilllosethatbenefitatMissouriinstitutions. This
billchangesthatandattemptstohavemoreindividualsusingVA
educationalbenefitstocometoMissouriandusethosebenefits
here.Supporterssaythatservicemembersareuniqueconsidering
theyareorderedtovariouslocationsandthatthestateshould
assisttheseindividualsandtheirfamiliesconsideringtheymay
qualifyforin-statetuitionandthenlosein-statetuitionbecause
ofbeingorderedtoanothergeographicallocation.
TestifyingforthebillwereRepresentative O'Donnell;andArnie
Dienoff.
OPPONENTS: Therewasnooppositionvoicedtothecommittee.
Writtentestimonyhasbeensubmittedforthisbill.Thefull
writtentestimonycanbefoundunderTestimonyonthebillpageon
theHousewebsite.