Full Text of SB2536 101st General Assembly
SB2536 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020 SB2536 Introduced 1/28/2020, by Sen. Michael E. Hastings SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Provides that an Illinois Veteran grant may be transferred to a qualified dependent beginning with the 2021-2022 academic year if, among other requirements, the qualified dependent's spouse or parent has served at least 8 years combined of federal active duty service or Reserve or Individual Ready Reserve Service. Effective July 1, 2020.
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| | | FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is | 5 | | amended by changing Section 40 as follows:
| 6 | | (110 ILCS 947/40)
| 7 | | Sec. 40. Illinois Veteran grant program. | 8 | | (a) As used in this Section: | 9 | | "Qualified applicant" means a person who served in the | 10 | | Armed Forces of the United States, a Reserve component of the | 11 | | Armed Forces, or the Illinois National Guard, excluding members | 12 | | of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and those whose only | 13 | | service has been attendance at a service academy, and who meets | 14 | | all of the qualifications of either paragraphs (1) through (4) | 15 | | or paragraphs (2), (3), and (5): | 16 | | (1) At the time of entering federal active duty service | 17 | | the person was one of the following: | 18 | | (A) An Illinois resident. | 19 | | (B) An Illinois resident within 6 months of | 20 | | entering such service. | 21 | | (C) Enrolled at a State-controlled university or | 22 | | public community college in this State. | 23 | | (2) The person meets one of the following requirements: |
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| 1 | | (A) He or she served at least one year of federal | 2 | | active duty. | 3 | | (B) He or she served less than one year of federal | 4 | | active duty and received an honorable discharge for | 5 | | medical reasons directly connected with such service. | 6 | | (C) He or she served less than one year of federal | 7 | | active duty and was discharged prior to August 11, | 8 | | 1967. | 9 | | (D) He or she served less than one year of federal | 10 | | active duty in a foreign country during a time of | 11 | | hostilities in that foreign country. | 12 | | (3) The person received an honorable discharge after | 13 | | leaving each period of federal active duty service. | 14 | | (4) The person returned to this State within 6 months | 15 | | after leaving federal active duty service, or, if married | 16 | | to a person in continued military service stationed outside | 17 | | this State, returned to this State within 6 months after | 18 | | his or her spouse left service or was stationed within this | 19 | | State. | 20 | | (5) The person does not meet the requirements of | 21 | | paragraph (1), but (i) is a resident of Illinois at the | 22 | | time of application to the Commission and (ii) at some | 23 | | point after leaving federal active duty service, was a | 24 | | resident of Illinois for at least 15 consecutive years. | 25 | | "Qualified dependent" means any spouse or natural born or | 26 | | legally adopted child of a veteran of the United States Armed |
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| 1 | | Forces who meets all of the following qualifications: | 2 | | (1) Has earned a high school diploma or high school | 3 | | equivalency certificate and is less than 26 years of age, | 4 | | unless granted an extension by the Commission due to a | 5 | | qualifying illness or debilitating condition. | 6 | | (2) Meets the cumulative grade point average | 7 | | requirements of the postsecondary institution. | 8 | | (3) Is a resident of Illinois for the term in which the | 9 | | grant under subsection (i) is transferred. | 10 | | "Time of hostilities" means any action by the Armed Forces | 11 | | of the United States that is recognized by the issuance of a | 12 | | Presidential proclamation or a Presidential executive order | 13 | | and in which the Armed Forces expeditionary medal or other | 14 | | campaign service medals are awarded according to Presidential | 15 | | executive order. | 16 | | (b) A person who otherwise qualifies under the definition | 17 | | of "qualified applicant" under subsection (a) of this Section | 18 | | but has not left federal active duty service and has served at | 19 | | least one year of federal active duty or has served for less | 20 | | than one year of federal active duty in a foreign country | 21 | | during a time of hostilities in that foreign country and who | 22 | | can provide documentation demonstrating an honorable service | 23 | | record is eligible to receive assistance under this Section. | 24 | | (c) A qualified applicant is not required to pay any | 25 | | tuition or mandatory fees while attending a State-controlled | 26 | | university or public community college in this State for a |
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| 1 | | period that is equivalent to 4 years of full-time enrollment, | 2 | | including summer terms. | 3 | | A qualified applicant who has previously received benefits | 4 | | under this Section for a non-mandatory fee shall continue to | 5 | | receive benefits covering such fees while he or she is enrolled | 6 | | in a continuous program of study. The qualified applicant shall | 7 | | no longer receive a grant covering non-mandatory fees if he or | 8 | | she fails to enroll during an academic term, unless he or she | 9 | | is serving federal active duty service.
| 10 | | (d) A person qualified applicant who has been or is to be | 11 | | awarded assistance under this Section shall receive that | 12 | | assistance if the person qualified applicant notifies his or | 13 | | her postsecondary institution of that fact by the end of the | 14 | | school term for which assistance is requested. | 15 | | (e) Assistance under this Section is considered an | 16 | | entitlement that the State-controlled college or public | 17 | | community college in which the person qualified applicant is | 18 | | enrolled shall honor without any condition other than the | 19 | | person's qualified applicant's maintenance of minimum grade | 20 | | levels and a satisfactory student loan repayment record | 21 | | pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 20 of this Act. | 22 | | (f) The Commission shall administer the grant program | 23 | | established by this Section and shall make all necessary and | 24 | | proper rules not inconsistent with this Section for its | 25 | | effective implementation. | 26 | | (g) All applications for assistance under this Section must |
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| 1 | | be made to the Commission on forms that the Commission shall | 2 | | provide. The Commission shall determine the form of application | 3 | | and the information required to be set forth in the | 4 | | application, and the Commission shall require qualified | 5 | | applicants to submit with their applications any supporting | 6 | | documents that the Commission deems necessary. Upon request, | 7 | | the Department of Veterans' Affairs shall assist the Commission | 8 | | in determining the eligibility of applicants for assistance | 9 | | under this Section. | 10 | | (h) Assistance under this Section is available as long as | 11 | | the federal government provides educational benefits to | 12 | | veterans. Assistance must not be paid under this Section after | 13 | | 6 months following the termination of educational benefits to | 14 | | veterans by the federal government, except for persons who | 15 | | already have begun their education with assistance under this | 16 | | Section. If the federal government terminates educational | 17 | | benefits to veterans and at a later time resumes those | 18 | | benefits, assistance under this Section shall resume.
| 19 | | (i) Beginning with the 2021-2022 academic year, a grant | 20 | | awarded under this Section may be transferred to a qualified | 21 | | dependent if the qualified dependent's spouse or parent meets | 22 | | all of the following qualifications: | 23 | | (1) He or she is a qualified applicant under subsection | 24 | | (a) or (b). | 25 | | (2) He or she has served at least 8 years combined of | 26 | | federal active duty service or Reserve or Individual Ready |
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| 1 | | Reserve service. | 2 | | (3) He or she has no federal veterans' educational | 3 | | benefits or no federal veterans' educational benefits | 4 | | dedicated only to the payment of tuition and fees, such as | 5 | | Chapter 31 or 33 benefits, for an enrolled term or semester | 6 | | that exceed the value of a grant under this Section. | 7 | | (4) He or she is a resident of Illinois during the term | 8 | | of the qualified dependent's enrollment unless the veteran | 9 | | has been recalled to active duty outside the State or has | 10 | | rejoined the military and is outside the State pursuant to | 11 | | military orders. However, a veteran who has a | 12 | | service-connected disability rating, as determined by the | 13 | | U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, of 90% to 100% or is | 14 | | unemployable based on a total disability, as determined by | 15 | | the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, is not required to | 16 | | maintain Illinois residency while his or her qualified | 17 | | dependent receives benefits under this subsection. | 18 | | A qualified dependent of a person who was killed in the | 19 | | line of duty, was a prisoner of war, was missing in action, had | 20 | | a service-connected disability rating, as determined by the | 21 | | U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, of 90% to 100%, was | 22 | | unemployable based on a total disability, as determined by the | 23 | | U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or died as a result of | 24 | | injury or illness directly related to his or her military | 25 | | service is eligible for a grant transfer of no less than 120 | 26 | | credit hours under this subsection if the spouse or parent |
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| 1 | | would have otherwise met the qualifications under this | 2 | | subsection. A dependent who is a natural born or legally | 3 | | adopted child of a veteran may still qualify for a grant under | 4 | | this subsection if he or she marries or if his or her parents | 5 | | divorce. | 6 | | Benefits under this Section may not be used simultaneously | 7 | | by both the veteran and his or her qualified dependent. A | 8 | | veteran may revoke or otherwise change the transfer of his or | 9 | | her benefits to a qualified dependent under this subsection at | 10 | | any time but may not transfer his or her benefits to the same | 11 | | qualified dependent again once those benefits have been revoked | 12 | | for that qualified dependent. | 13 | | A veteran may transfer benefits under this subsection to | 14 | | multiple qualified dependents; however, the total number of | 15 | | credit hours of assistance transferred may not exceed 120 | 16 | | credit hours, and a veteran may transfer benefits to only one | 17 | | qualified dependent at a time. | 18 | | (Source: P.A. 101-334, eff. 8-9-19.)
| 19 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | 20 | | 2020.
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