HF 455

1st Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to the military; extending the time period 
  1.3             for adjutant general of the Minnesota National Guard 
  1.4             to make tuition reimbursement grants to members who 
  1.5             have served in active military service; amending 
  1.6             Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 192.501, subdivision 
  1.7             2. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 192.501, 
  1.10  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 2.  [TUITION AND TEXTBOOK REIMBURSEMENT GRANT 
  1.12  PROGRAM.] (a) The adjutant general shall establish a program to 
  1.13  provide tuition and textbook reimbursement grants to eligible 
  1.14  members of the Minnesota National Guard within the limitations 
  1.15  of this subdivision. 
  1.16     (b) Eligibility is limited to a member of the National 
  1.17  Guard who: 
  1.18     (1) is serving satisfactorily as defined by the adjutant 
  1.19  general; 
  1.20     (2) is attending a postsecondary educational institution, 
  1.21  as defined by section 136A.15, subdivision 6, including a 
  1.22  vocational or technical school operated or regulated by this 
  1.23  state or another state or province; and 
  1.24     (3) provides proof of satisfactory completion of 
  1.25  coursework, as defined by the adjutant general. 
  1.26     In addition, (c) Notwithstanding paragraph (b), clause (1), 
  2.1   for a person who: 
  2.2      (1) has satisfactorily completed the person's service 
  2.3   contract in the Minnesota National Guard or the portion of it 
  2.4   involving selective reserve status, for which any part of that 
  2.5   service was spent serving honorably in federal active service or 
  2.6   federally funded state active service since September 11, 2001, 
  2.7   the person's eligibility is extended for a period of two years, 
  2.8   plus an amount of time equal to the duration of that person's 
  2.9   active service, subject to the credit hours limit in paragraph 
  2.10  (g); or 
  2.11     (2) has served honorably in the Minnesota National Guard 
  2.12  and has been separated or discharged from that organization due 
  2.13  to a service connected injury, disease, or disability, the 
  2.14  eligibility period is extended for eight years beyond the date 
  2.15  of separation, subject to the credit hours limit in paragraph 
  2.16  (g). 
  2.17     (d) If a member of the Minnesota National Guard is killed 
  2.18  in the line of state active service or federally funded state 
  2.19  active service, as defined in section 190.05, subdivisions 5a 
  2.20  and 5b, the member's surviving spouse, and any surviving 
  2.21  dependent who has not yet reached 24 years of age, is eligible 
  2.22  for a tuition and textbook reimbursement grant, with each 
  2.23  eligible person independently subject to the credit hours limit 
  2.24  in paragraph (g). 
  2.25     (e) The adjutant general may, within the limitations of 
  2.26  this paragraph paragraphs (b) to (d) and other applicable laws, 
  2.27  determine additional eligibility criteria for the grant, and 
  2.28  must specify the criteria in department regulations and publish 
  2.29  changes as necessary. 
  2.30     (c) (f) The amount of a tuition and textbook reimbursement 
  2.31  grant must be specified on a schedule as determined and 
  2.32  published in department regulations by the adjutant general, but 
  2.33  is limited to a maximum of an amount equal to the greater of: 
  2.34     (1) up to 100 percent of the cost of tuition for lower 
  2.35  division programs in the College of Liberal Arts at the Twin 
  2.36  Cities campus of the University of Minnesota in the most recent 
  3.1   academic year; or 
  3.2      (2) up to 100 percent of the cost of tuition for the 
  3.3   program in which the person is enrolled at that Minnesota public 
  3.4   institution, or if that public institution is outside the state 
  3.5   of Minnesota, for the cost of a comparable program at the 
  3.6   University of Minnesota, except that in the case of a survivor 
  3.7   as defined in paragraph (b), the amount of the tuition and 
  3.8   textbook reimbursement grant for coursework satisfactorily 
  3.9   completed by the person is limited to 100 percent of the cost of 
  3.10  tuition for postsecondary courses at a Minnesota public 
  3.11  educational institution. 
  3.12     Paragraph (g) Paragraphs (b) to (e) notwithstanding, a 
  3.13  person is no longer eligible for a grant under this subdivision 
  3.14  once the person has received grants under this subdivision for 
  3.15  the equivalent of 208 quarter credits or 144 semester credits of 
  3.16  coursework. 
  3.17     (d) (h) Tuition and textbook reimbursement grants received 
  3.18  under this subdivision may not be considered by the Minnesota 
  3.19  Higher Education Services Office or by any other state board, 
  3.20  commission, or entity in determining a person's eligibility for 
  3.21  a scholarship or grant-in-aid under sections 136A.095 to 
  3.22  136A.1311. 
  3.23     (e) (i) If a member fails to complete a term of enlistment 
  3.24  during which a tuition and textbook reimbursement grant was 
  3.25  paid, the adjutant general may seek to recoup a prorated amount 
  3.26  as determined by the adjutant general.  However, this authority 
  3.27  does not apply to a person whose separation from the Minnesota 
  3.28  National Guard is due to a medical condition or financial 
  3.29  hardship. 
  3.30     (j) For purposes of this section, the terms "active 
  3.31  service," "state active service," "federally funded state active 
  3.32  service," and "federal active service" have the meanings given 
  3.33  in section 190.05, subdivisions 5 to 5c, respectively, except 
  3.34  that for purposes of paragraph (c), clause (1), these terms 
  3.35  exclude service performed exclusively for purposes of: 
  3.36     (1) basic combat training, advanced individual training, 
  4.1   annual training, and periodic inactive duty training; 
  4.2      (2) special training periodically made available to reserve 
  4.3   members; 
  4.4      (3) service performed in accordance with section 190.08, 
  4.5   subdivision 3; and 
  4.6      (4) service performed as part of the active guard/reserve 
  4.7   program pursuant to United States Code, title 32, section 
  4.8   502(f), or other applicable authority. 
  4.9      [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day 
  4.10  following final enactment and applies to persons who have served 
  4.11  in the Minnesota National Guard at any time since September 11, 
  4.12  2001, and if the person has died in the line of service, to the 
  4.13  person's surviving spouse and dependent.