Full Text of SB3213 093rd General Assembly
SB3213 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004 SB3213
Introduced 2/6/2004, by Don Harmon SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the Higher Education Assistance Act. Makes a technical change concerning veterans grants.
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A BILL FOR
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SB3213 |
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| AN ACT concerning Veterans.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is | 5 |
| amended by changing Section 40 as follows:
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| (110 ILCS 947/40)
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| Sec. 40. Veteran grant
Grant . Any person who served in the | 8 |
| armed forces of the
United States, not including members of the | 9 |
| Student Army Training Corps, who at
the time of entering | 10 |
| service was an Illinois resident or was an Illinois
resident | 11 |
| within 6 months of entering such service, and who returned to | 12 |
| Illinois
within 6 months after leaving service or, if married | 13 |
| to a person in continued
military service stationed outside | 14 |
| Illinois, within 6 months after his or her
spouse has left | 15 |
| service or has been stationed within Illinois, and who has been
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| honorably discharged from such service, and who possesses all | 17 |
| necessary
entrance requirements shall, except as otherwise | 18 |
| provided in this Act, upon
application and proper proof, be | 19 |
| awarded an Illinois Veteran Grant consisting
of the equivalent | 20 |
| of 4 calendar years of full-time enrollment,
including summer | 21 |
| terms, to the State-controlled college or university or
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| community college of his choice. Such veterans shall also be | 23 |
| entitled, upon
proper proof and application, to enroll in any | 24 |
| extension course offered by a
State-controlled college or | 25 |
| university or community college without the payment
of tuition | 26 |
| or fees.
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| Any veteran who so served, and who, at the time of entering | 28 |
| such service,
was a student at a State-controlled college or | 29 |
| university or community
college, and who was honorably | 30 |
| discharged from such service, shall, upon
application and | 31 |
| proper proof be awarded a Veteran Grant entitling
him to | 32 |
| complete his course of study at any State-controlled college or
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| university or community college of his choice, but shall not be | 2 |
| entitled to
a grant consisting of more than the equivalent of 4 | 3 |
| calendar years of
full-time enrollment including summer | 4 |
| sessions.
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| Any member of the armed forces of the United States who | 6 |
| either (i) has
served
in such armed forces at least one year, | 7 |
| or (ii) has served in the armed
forces of the United States for | 8 |
| less than one year in a time of
hostilities in a foreign | 9 |
| country, and
who would be qualified for a grant under this | 10 |
| Section if he had been discharged
from such service shall be | 11 |
| eligible to receive a Veteran Grant under this
Section.
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| The holder of a Veteran Grant to the State-controlled | 13 |
| college or
university or community college of his choice as | 14 |
| authorized under this
Section shall not be required to pay any | 15 |
| matriculation or application
fees, tuition, activities fees, | 16 |
| graduation fees, or other fees except
multipurpose building | 17 |
| fees or similar fees for supplies and materials.
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| Any veteran who has been or shall be awarded a Veteran | 19 |
| Grant shall be
reimbursed by the appropriate college, | 20 |
| university, or community college for any
fees which he has paid | 21 |
| and for which exemption is granted under this Section,
if | 22 |
| application for reimbursement is made within 2 months following
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| the school
term for which the fees were paid.
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| A Veteran Grant shall be considered an entitlement which | 25 |
| the
State-controlled college or university or community | 26 |
| college in which the
holder is enrolled shall honor without any | 27 |
| condition other than the
holder's maintenance of minimum grade | 28 |
| levels and a satisfactory student
loan repayment record | 29 |
| pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 20.
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| A grant authorized under this Section shall not be awarded | 31 |
| to
veterans who received a discharge from the armed forces of | 32 |
| the United
States under dishonorable conditions, or to any | 33 |
| veteran whose service with
the armed forces was for less than | 34 |
| one year unless he received an honorable
discharge from such | 35 |
| service for medical reasons directly connected with
such | 36 |
| service, except for those veterans discharged prior to August |
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whose service may be for less than one year, and | 2 |
| except for those veterans
(i) who serve in the armed forces of | 3 |
| the United
States for less
than one year in a time of | 4 |
| hostilities in a foreign country and (ii) who receive an | 5 |
| honorable discharge.
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| The amounts that become due to any State-controlled college | 7 |
| or university
or community college shall be payable by the | 8 |
| Comptroller to that
institution on vouchers approved by the | 9 |
| Commission. The Commission, or its
designated representative | 10 |
| at that institution, shall determine the
eligibility of the | 11 |
| persons who make application for the benefits provided
for in | 12 |
| this Section. The Department of Veterans' Affairs shall assist | 13 |
| the
Commission in determining the eligibility of applicants. On | 14 |
| July 29,
1986, the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs | 15 |
| shall transfer and deliver
to the Commission all books, | 16 |
| records, papers, documents, applications and
pending business | 17 |
| in any way pertaining to the duties, responsibilities and
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| authority theretofore exercised or performed by the Illinois | 19 |
| Department of
Veterans' Affairs under and pursuant to Section | 20 |
| 4.1 of the Department of
Veterans Affairs Act.
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| The benefits provided for in this Section shall be | 22 |
| available as long as
the federal government provides | 23 |
| educational benefits to veterans. No
benefits shall be paid | 24 |
| under this Section, except for veterans who
already have begun | 25 |
| their education under this Section, after 6 months following
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| the termination of educational benefits to veterans by the | 27 |
| federal
government. If the federal government terminates | 28 |
| educational benefits to
veterans and at a later time resumes | 29 |
| those benefits, the benefits of this
Section shall resume.
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| As used in this Section, "time of hostilities in a foreign | 31 |
| country" means
any action by the armed forces of the United | 32 |
| States that is recognized by the
issuance of a Presidential | 33 |
| proclamation or a Presidential executive order and
in which the | 34 |
| armed forces expeditionary medal or other campaign service | 35 |
| medals
are awarded according to Presidential executive order.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-752, eff. 8-14-98; 91-496, eff. 8-13-99.)
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