The Senate floor session in the Richmond capitol building. (Waldo Jaquith/Wikimedia Commons)
RICHMOND — The Virginia Senate reconvened to consider lifting new restrictions on a college tuition program for military families but walked away empty-handed for the second time in two weeks.
Senators from across the state returned to Richmond on Monday to consider repealing the restrictions on the program, which waives tuition and fees at public colleges and universities for the spouses and children of veterans disabled or killed in the line of duty.
But Democrats on Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee did not vote on the repeal bill the House passed unanimously Friday, calling it constitutionally flawed. Democrats on the panel then advanced a similar measure, but that legislation did not get a vote on the floor after Republican senators blocked the Democrats’ plans to fast-track it.
Republicans and Democrats accused each other of playing politics with an issue that has inflamed military families, who gathered once again Monday at the Capitol to urge action but left frustrated.
“We’re trying move it along,” Senate Majority Leader Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) said afterward.
Surovell said he and Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) met privately for hours with Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) earlier Monday but could not reach an agreement on any of their proposals — including one to fully repeal the restrictions but for only one year, with the sunset meant to ensure changes get made to make the program sustainable.
“He wanted full repeal and taxpayers cover the cost and we’ll talk about it in January. … He just basically said, ‘Trust me,’” Surovell said. “There’s not a whole lot of trust there right now.”
Surovell said that the meeting lasted between 2½ and three hours, and that during that time, Youngkin would occasionally go into an adjacent room to phone others to get their take on the Democrats’ proposals. Youngkin spokesman Rob Damschen declined to comment on that account.
In a statement, Youngkin blasted Democrats for not taking action in the Senate, which like the House, the party narrowly controls. The governor said he would order both chambers back to Richmond if they do not come up with a fix.
“The Senate Democrat leadership is hurting our military heroes, first responders and their families every time they show up and do nothing, as well as wasting time and taxpayer money,” Youngkin said in the statement. “A full, clean repeal, which passed out of the House unanimously, and was supported by a bipartisan majority in the Senate, could have been signed today.”
The program was created in 1930 to aid the families of World War I veterans and has been expanded over the years to include out-of-state residents, graduate students and relatives of service members with non-combat-related injuries. The price tag has risen sharply in recent years, from $12 million in 2019 to more than $65 million last year. Universities have borne the cost or passed it onto other students.
The restrictions, which took effect Monday with the start of the state’s fiscal year, limit eligibility to Virginia residents pursuing undergraduate degrees. They also require participants to tap federal aid, such as Pell Grants, before accessing the state program. Students already in the program were grandfathered in, as was anyone who applied to college before May 15.
Tucked in the state budget that won bipartisan support from the House, Senate and Youngkin in May, the restrictions were meant to address the program’s rising costs. Fierce pushback from families followed, and Youngkin and legislators quickly pledged to come up with a fix. Yet they have been at odds over how to do so.
The House and Youngkin have favored fully repealing the changes until the issue can be studied and considered by the legislature as a stand-alone bill. Senate leaders have been more inclined to leave some restrictions intact, although their latest proposal Monday was very near what the House passed.
The Senate first met June 18, when Democratic leaders hoped to pass a bill to lift the Pell Grant and FAFSA requirements for relatives of veterans killed in the line of duty or disabled in combat, but not those with noncombat disabilities. They met for more than five hours that day but did not advance the legislation.
The House voted 92-0 on Friday to fully repeal changes to the program. Shortly after the House vote, Surovell said Senate leaders planned to back a new bill to postpone the restrictions until July 1, 2025 — essentially a full repeal but with a sunset after one year.
He said it would also provide an additional $45 million over the next 12 months — over the $20 million a year already included in the budget to help to cover the cost — and require the state’s the Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission to review the program and make recommendations by Sept. 1. JLARC has, on its own, begun the study.
Lucas proposed a bill Monday that was slightly different — and came closer to the House’s position, calling for a full repeal without the sunset provision. It also included the additional $45 million and the academic progress requirement, which Surovell said is standard for other state tuition programs.
But the full Senate did not get the chance to vote on that bill or the House version.
The finance committee opted to pass the House bill by for the day after Surovell said it had a constitutional problem: The language does not restate the entire budget item, which he said is required under a state Supreme Court ruling.
The committee instead advanced a similar bill — on a party-line vote, with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans opposed — that fully repealed the restrictions but imposed a new one: requiring that students receiving the tuition benefit demonstrate satisfactory academic performance.
But when that measure reached the floor, Senate Republicans would not agree to waive certain procedural rules to allow for an immediate vote, noting that the rules would require the House to agree and that chamber was not in town Monday.
The Senate has no immediate plans to return, Surovell said.
“I don’t see how we’d ask taxpayers to spend another $50,000 on per diems and expenses if the House and the governor haven’t indicated they’re willing to accept our bill,” he said, referring to the amount it costs the state each day that the full General Assembly is in session.
Senate Minority Leader Ryan T. McDougle (R-Hanover) said the chamber was missing an opportunity to put the issue behind it and settle the uncertainty for military families.
“The House passed a bill that was a clean repeal,” he said. “We can pass a clean repeal. We can do that today.”
