STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1470 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 9, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BUTTENSCHON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to veterans tuition awards program eligibility, and to amend a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the education law relating to expanding eligibility under the veterans tuition awards program, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 8596-A and A. 9205-A, in relation to the effectiveness thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subparagraph (ii) of paragraph d of subdivision 1 of 2 section 669-a of the education law, as amended by a chapter of the laws 3 of 2024 amending the education law relating to expanding eligibility 4 under the veterans tuition awards program, as proposed in legislative 5 bills numbers S. 8596-A and A. 9205-A, is amended to read as follows: 6 (ii) served in the armed forces of the United States (1) on active 7 duty for at least four years, or (2) in hostilities that occurred after 8 February twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred sixty-one, as evidenced by 9 their receipt of an Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Navy Expeditionary 10 Medal, or Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, and 11 § 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 669-a of the education 12 law, as amended by a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the education 13 law relating to expanding eligibility under the veterans tuition awards 14 program, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 8596-A and A. 15 9205-A, is amended to read as follows: 16 a. Tuition awards are available for all Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Afghan- 17 istan and other eligible veterans, as defined in subdivision one of this 18 section, who are enrolled, pursuant to paragraph a of subdivision four 19 of section six hundred sixty-one of this part, in approved undergraduate 20 or graduate programs at degree granting institutions or enrolled in 21 approved vocational training programs and who apply for a tuition EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02704-01-5
A. 1470 2 1 assistance program award, for up to the equivalent of eight full-time 2 semesters, pursuant to section six hundred sixty-seven of this subpart. 3 § 3. Subdivision 4 of section 669-a of the education law, as amended 4 by a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the education law relating to 5 expanding eligibility under the veterans tuition awards program, as 6 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 8596-A and A. 9205-A, is 7 amended to read as follows: 8 4. Every recipient shall receive an award equal to the amount of 9 undergraduate [or graduate] tuition for residents of New York state 10 charged by the state university of New York or actual tuition charged, 11 whichever is less, for each semester, or the equivalent, of full time 12 study, or a pro-rated amount for part-time study; provided, however, 13 that such award shall not be reduced by any benefits available under the 14 federal Montgomery GI Bill act of 1984 or the federal Pell grant program 15 pursuant to section one thousand seventy-a of title twenty of the United 16 States code. 17 § 4. Section 4 of a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the education 18 law relating to expanding eligibility under the veterans tuition awards 19 program, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 8596-A and A. 20 9205-A, is amended to read as follows: 21 § 4. This act shall take effect [immediately] July 1, 2025. 22 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 23 sections one, two and three of this act shall take effect on the same 24 date and in the same manner as a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending 25 the education law relating to expanding eligibility under the veterans 26 tuition awards program, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 27 8596-A and A. 9205-A, takes effect.