Virginia lawmakers on Thursday quickly and unanimously passed a full repeal of changes to a popular military family tuition waiver program, concluding a chaotic and sometimes-heated battle in the General Assembly.
The legislation fully repeals all changes made to the military tuition program in the budget document, and adds $90 million from the revenue surplus to the program for the two-year budget period.
Now, the program will get $65 million each year during the next two years.
In the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, Chair Louise Lucas, D- Portsmouth, said the bill balances out support for military families while avoiding financially burdening other students.
“As I have said before, making higher education affordable for all students is a priority that should be shared by everyone,” Lucas said.
Lucas and Del. Luke Torian, D- Dumfries, announced a plan to introduce and vote on identical repeal bills on July 2. Both legislative chambers passed the identical bills, avoiding a conference committee.
Additionally, several groups are studying the program. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission is studying the program’s viability and will share the report with the General Assembly by Sept. 1. Gov. Glenn Youngkin has also convened a task force on the issue, and state Senators formed a select workgroup.
Previously, the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program provided tuition waivers and an annual stipend to spouses and children of veterans who are killed, missing in action, taken prisoner or at least 90% permanently disabled as a result of service.
The estimated cost of the program’s tuition waivers has nearly quadrupled, from $12 million in 2019 to $46.3 million in 2022, according to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Projections from earlier this year showed the lost tuition revenue will likely grow to over $190 million by 2026.
The Virginia budget, which went into effect July 1, imposed several new restrictions on the tuition waiver program in an attempt to curb rising costs. It requires applicants to be Virginia residents and limits the program waivers to undergraduate degrees. The budget also requires applicants to apply for and use other sources of state and federal financial aid first.
The changes were met with outrage from military families, including many whom live in Hampton Roads.
The Senate Appropriations committee advanced a bill from Lucas mostly repealing the changes on July 1, but the full Senate did not vote on the bill due to a 48-hour waiting period.
On June 18, Lucas declined to hear several pieces of legislation fully repealing the changes.
The repeal bill now heads to Youngkin’s desk. Youngkin previously said he supported the bills in a post on X following the announcement from Democratic leaders.
Lawmakers did not take up any efforts to repeal a statewide ban on skill games — slot machine-like video gaming devices once active in gas stations and other locations. During the Appropriations committee, Lucas said House leaders are not ready to deal with the issue yet, but hoped to advance legislation in an October special session.
Reporters Eliza Noe and Gavin Stone contributed to this report.
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