2 lawmakers hopeful on Hazlewood deal
After much talk and effort, the Texas Legislature could very well end up doing nothing to address a rapidly growing program that waives tuition for military veterans and their families at the state’s public colleges and universities — a benefifit many are calling unsustainable in its current form.
But two key lawmakers expressed hope Thursday that the House and Senate will be able to strike a deal in the waning days of the legislative session, which ends Monday.
The two chambers currently are negotiating the final terms of Senate Bill 1735 by state Sen. Brian Birdwell, which — as passed by the Senate — would significantly tighten eligibility standards for the children of veterans in an effort to rein in the skyrocketing amount of tuition being waived under the so-called Hazlewood Act.
That sum has grown nearly sevenfold, to $169 million, since 2009 when the Legislature voted unanimously to expand the decades-old program so veterans could pass on most of their unused credit hours to their de- pendents — without giving schools any more money to make up for the lost revenue. (Lawmakers committed some limited funding later.)
Adding to the concern, a federal judge in January struck down a provision that says veterans may receive benefits only if they enlisted while living in Texas — a dec ision that means veterans who enlisted elsewhere could move to the state and claim free tuition.
But when SB 1735 was debated on the House floor Sunday, state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, who is sponsoring the bill in that chamber, removed the vast majority of the benefit-tightening provisions in the face of intense opposition from House lawmakers — both Republicans and Democrats — who decried the notion of reducing veteran benefits a day before Memorial Day, which honors those who died while serving in the armed forces.
Along with authorizing a study on the issue, the version of SB 1735 the House ended up passing unanimously would change the residency provision to require that non-Texan born Hazlewood beneficiaries live here for at leas t the past eight years — an attempt to address the court ruling, which the state has appealed.
Zerwas said he hopes to reach agreement with Birdwell, R-Granbury, on retaining that new residency requirement but said any provisions seen as reducing veteran benefits won’t fly in the House.
Meanwhile, budget negotiators included no new money for the Hazlewood program in the two-year spending proposal the House and Senate will soon consider, leaving funding at roughly $41 million for the 2016-17 cycle.
Asked whether his bill is dead, Birdwell, replied: “I don’t think so, but it is a signifificant challenge, and I’m working with Chairman Zerwas on what we can salvage out of it.”
Zerwas praised Birdwell — who served in the military longer than any other member of the Legislature and was seriously injured in the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon — for taking on reform.
“In my book,” Zerwas said, “he’s even a bigger hero than he was.”