2005 Senate Bill 5112 (Regarding veterans benefits)

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• Introduced by Sen. Paull Shin, (D-Edmonds) on January 13, 2005, to provide public employment retirement credits and education fee waivers for veterans of the Afghanistan conflict and the Persian Gulf War II.
  • Referred to the Senate Early Learning, K-12 and Higher Education Committee on January 13, 2005.
    • Testimony in support offered to the Senate Early Learning, K-12 and Higher Education Committee on January 28, 2005, by Senator Paull Shin, prime sponsor; and Timothy Boyce, citizen. They testified that these young people go where they are sent and sometimes sacrifice their lives. This bill is the least we can do for the veterans who have fought for this country and done their duty. We owe them this. Veterans have had to come back and sometimes start their lives over and that sometimes means going back to school. This waiver would help these veterans get the retraining they need so that they can have a future, rebuild their lives, and contribute. While budget issues are a concern because of the number of people this would impact, that was also the case with Vietnam veterans.
    • Testimony with concerns offered to the Senate Early Learning, K-12 and Higher Education Committee on January 28, 2005, by Chris Reykdal, SBCTC, who testified that while not opposed to the bill, the community and technical colleges do want to offer words of caution. This could have a large financial impact on the community and technical college system. The deployment for these conflicts was substantial and it will have an impact. Even though these waivers are permissive, we are not going to turn down one group of veterans while we have waived tuition for others. It will end up having an impact and basically being a budget cut. We believe that we need to look at this issue more holistically. There is currently a bill in the House that would look at veterans waivers as a whole and treat all veterans alike that might be a better vehicle.
  • Substitute offered to the Senate Early Learning, K-12 and Higher Education Committee on February 2, 2005, to modify definitions in the original bill.
  • The substitute passed in the Senate by voice vote on March 8, 2005.
  • Referred to the Senate Rules Committee on February 3, 2005.
• Passed in the Senate (48 to 0) on March 8, 2005. [Vote Details and Comments]
• Received in the House on March 9, 2005.
  • Referred to the House Appropriations Committee on March 9, 2005.
  • Amendment offered to the House on March 24, 2005, by the House Appropriations Committee, to eliminate provisions authorizing higher education institutions to exempt veterans of the Afghanistan conflict, or veterans who served in the second Persian Gulf combat zone from tuition and fees. It changes qualification as a veteran from those that served in the combat zone, to those who received the respective campaign badge or medal in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  • The amendment passed in the House by voice vote on April 5, 2005.
  • Referred to the House Rules Committee on March 28, 2005.
• Passed in the House (89 to 0) on April 5, 2005, to provide public employment retirement credits and education fee waivers for veterans of the Afghanistan conflict and the Persian Gulf War II. [Vote Details and Comments]
• Received in the Senate on April 18, 2005.
• Passed in the Senate (46 to 0) on April 18, 2005, to concur in House amendments. [Vote Details and Comments]
• Signed by Gov. Christine Gregoire on May 3, 2005, to provide public employment retirement credits and education fee waivers for veterans of the Afghanistan conflict and the Persian Gulf War II.

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Introduced by Sen. Paull Shin, (D-Edmonds) on January 13, 2005. Passed in the Senate (48 to 0) on March 8, 2005. New Comment