Full Text of HR1121 94th General Assembly
HR1121 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HR1121 |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The State of Illinois honors Illinois veterans for | 3 |
| service in the United States Armed Services and Illinois | 4 |
| National Guard with grants and scholarships to attend public | 5 |
| universities and community colleges in this State; and
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| WHEREAS, The Veteran Grant Program pays eligible tuition | 7 |
| and certain fees for either undergraduate or graduate study at | 8 |
| any public university or community college in this State for | 9 |
| Illinois residents who qualify; a qualified applicant must be a | 10 |
| member of the Armed Forces of the United States who has served | 11 |
| at least one year of active duty and whose separation from such | 12 |
| service has been characterized as honorable; and
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| WHEREAS, The Illinois National Guard Grant Program pays | 14 |
| tuition and eligible fees at all public universities and | 15 |
| community colleges in this State; the applicant must be on | 16 |
| active status and have served for at least one year in the | 17 |
| Illinois National Guard; and
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| WHEREAS, The MIA-POW Scholarship Program for dependents of | 19 |
| Illinois residents declared to be missing in action or | 20 |
| prisoners of war pays all tuition and fees at any public | 21 |
| university or community college in this State; and
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| WHEREAS, In fiscal year 2005, 11,511 students received | 23 |
| Veteran Grants, 1,698 students received Illinois National | 24 |
| Guard Grants, and 801 students received MIA-POW Scholarships; | 25 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, The Veteran Grant Program, the Illinois National | 27 |
| Guard Grant Program, and the MIA-POW Scholarship Program are | 28 |
| all considered entitlement grants; thus, if the General | 29 |
| Assembly does not fully fund these programs to cover all | 30 |
| expenses, the public university or community college must waive |
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| all tuition and fees on behalf of that student; and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, Public universities and community colleges in | 3 |
| this State must raise tuition and fees in order to compensate | 4 |
| for unfunded mandates placed upon them by the Governor's | 5 |
| budget; and | 6 |
| WHEREAS, It is not fiscally responsible for the Governor to | 7 |
| increase government spending while other parts of the budget | 8 |
| continue to be underfunded; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, The Governor's proposed budget for fiscal year | 10 |
| 2007 provides level funding for the Veteran Grant Program, the | 11 |
| Illinois National Guard Grant Program, and the MIA-POW | 12 |
| Scholarship Program despite increasing enrollment primarily | 13 |
| due to the Global War on Terrorism; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, This level funding will require public | 15 |
| universities and community colleges to waive an estimated $12.7 | 16 |
| million in tuition and fees; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 18 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 19 |
| the public universities and community colleges of this State | 20 |
| are entitled to reimbursement for the costs incurred in the | 21 |
| administration of the Veteran Grant Program, the Illinois | 22 |
| National Guard Grant Program, and the MIA-POW Scholarship | 23 |
| Program in the past fiscal years; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the Veteran Grant Program, the Illinois | 25 |
| National Guard Grant Program, and the MIA-POW Scholarship | 26 |
| Program receive full funding in fiscal year 2007 and future | 27 |
| fiscal years based on the funding recommendations from the | 28 |
| Illinois Student Assistance Commission and Department of | 29 |
| Veterans' Affairs; and be it further |
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| RESOLVED, That the Board of Higher Education conduct a | 2 |
| study detailing over the last four fiscal years the amount of | 3 |
| tuition and fees each public university and community college | 4 |
| has waived in order to compensate for the lack of funding in | 5 |
| the Governor's budgets for the Veteran Grant Program, Illinois | 6 |
| National Guard Grant Program, and MIA-POW Scholarship Program, | 7 |
| to be submitted to the General Assembly and Governor no later | 8 |
| than January 1, 2007; and be it further | 9 |
| RESOLVED, That the Board of Higher Education conduct an | 10 |
| annual study detailing the amounts each public university and | 11 |
| community college had to waive in tuition and fees the previous | 12 |
| academic year in order to compensate for the underfunding in | 13 |
| the Governor's budget for the Veteran Grant Program, Illinois | 14 |
| National Guard Grant Program, and MIA-POW Scholarship Program, | 15 |
| to accompany the Board of Higher Education's annual budget | 16 |
| recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly; and be it | 17 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 19 |
| delivered to the Governor, the Board of Higher Education, and | 20 |
| the president of each public university and community college | 21 |
| in this State.
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