DAV-WI Letter to Assembly Veterans Committee

March 25, 2010

Chairman Steve Hilgenberg & Ranking Member Kevin Petersen
Assembly Committee on Veteran and Military Affairs
State Capitol
Madison, WI 53708

Dear Representatives Hilgenberg, Petersen, and Members of the Committee,

Thank you for holding today’s committee hearing and executive session on legislation of great importance to Wisconsin’s veterans.

As representatives of the approximately 15,000 members of the Department of Wisconsin Disabled American Veterans, we are in strong support of Assembly Bill 702, authored by Rep. Kristen Dexter.

Since WDVA pushed for cuts to the program as part of austerity measures to aid the Veterans Trust Fund, an unintended consequence has come about that has led to the denial of reimbursement for otherwise eligible part-time students who went over the 11-credit part-time “limit.” This bill “fixes” the part-time study problem in the veterans tuition reimbursement program for veterans who exceed 11 credits but are no longer eligible for the program under the full-time study provisions

We are also in support of Assembly Bill 781 as authored by Rep. Hilgenberg. This bill would provide an important, albeit partial “fix” to the wrongheaded, disenfranchising Wisconsin G.I. Bill tuition remission administrative changes made by the UW System (UWS) to limit the program’s costs following passage of the biennial budget. Since the program has already been in existence for several years, we believe the fiscal estimate of costs of this bill to be disingenuous at best, and we urge passage of at least the restorative measures contained in this bill. We are opposed to changes to the bill that would have the impact of making further cuts to the program, including new limits on students who study out of state.

Again, thank you for today’s committee actions. Your continuing efforts on behalf of the veterans of our great state are noted, and greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Clarence Stoel, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR 

Anthony Hardie, SPECIAL ASSISTANT

DAV-WI LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: State Assembly to Hold Hearing on 2 Bills, Vote on a 3rd

“Fixes” to veterans education programs, adding a member to the Council on Veterans Programs on the agenda

Written by Anthony Hardie, DAV-WI Special Assistant/Council on Veterans Programs Representative

(Madison – DAV-WI) - The Assembly Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs, chaired by Rep. Steve Hilgenberg (D-Dodgeville) will hold a public hearing on two important veteran-related bills on Thursday, March 25, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. in room 225 Northwest of the Wisconsin State Capitol, in Madison, Wis. 

The hearing will be immediately followed by a committee vote on a third veteran-related bill.

To support these three bills, please contact your state Representative and Senator and members of the Assembly Veterans and Military Affairs committee.  All can be found at www.legis.wi.gov.

AB 702

The first of the two bills for the public hearing is Assembly Bill 702, authored by freshman legislator Rep. Kristen Dexter, D-Eau Claire, which “fixes” the part-time study problem in  the veterans tuition reimbursement program for veterans who exceed 11 credits.  Since WDVA pushed for cuts to the program as part of austerity measures to aid the Veterans Trust Fund, an unintended consequence has come about that has led to the denial of reimbursement for otherwise eligible part-time students who went over the 11-credit part-time “limit.” 

This bill would provide a “fix” for that issue.  According to the State of Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau analysis:

Currently, the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs reimburses eligible veterans for tuition and fees for certain secondary or post−secondary education. The maximum
number of credits for which a veteran may receive reimbursement is determined based on the amount of time the veteran served on active duty.

Under current law, a veteran generally must begin studies within ten years after separating from the military to receive tuition and fee reimbursement for the studies. However, current law provides exceptions to this ten−year rule for part−time study. A veteran may receive reimbursement for up to 11 credits for a semester that begins more than ten years after separation if the veteran enrolls in no more than 11 credits that semester; if the veteran enrolls in more than 11 credits that semester, he or she may not receive any reimbursement.

Further, for a summer semester, a veteran may receive reimbursement for any number of credits, subject to maximum credit limits. Current law limits reimbursement for studies begun more than ten years after separation to 60 credits.

This bill provides that a veteran may receive reimbursement for tuition and fees for up to 11 credits for a semester that begins more than ten years after separation from the military, even if the veteran enrolls in more than 11 credits that semester.

According to WDVA, the estimated fiscal effect on WDVA is extremely small: FY10 is $80,100 and $84,900 for FY11.  There is no fiscal impact for the UW System since all costs are paid by WDVA from the Veterans Trust Fund.

This bill was authored by Rep. Dexter and co-sponsored by Wisconsin State Assembly Representatives Berceau, Vruwink, Molepske Jr., Brooks, Pridemore, Bies, Hebl, Sinicki, Turner, A. Williams, Gunderson, Jorgensen, Zepnick, Grigsby and Clark; the bill was also cosponsored in the Wisconsin State Senate by Senator Pat Kreitlow (D-Chippewa Falls), and Senators Harsdorf, Lassa, Olsen, Darling, Coggs, Taylor, Schultz, Hansen and Carpenter.

AB 835

The second of the two bills for the March 25th hearing is Assembly Bill 835, which would add a representative of the Blinded Veterans Association of Wisconsin to the Wisconsin Council on Veterans Programs.

This bill was also authored by Representative Dexter, and co-sponsored in the Assembly by Representatives Suder, Hebl, Berceau, Mason and Petersen.  AB 835  was also coauthored in the state Senate by Senator Kreitlow, and co-sponsored by Senators Taylor and Carpenter.

Assembly Bill 781

An Executive Session for the members of the committee to vote on Assembly Bill 781, which had a public hearing earlier this month, will be held at the conclusion of the public hearing.  AB 781 is Chairman Hilgenberg’s compromise “fix” to the Wisconsin G.I. Bill tuition remission administrative changes created by the UW System (UWS) to limit its costs after passage of the biennial budget. 

According the the state Legislative Reference Bureau:

This bill requires the Board of Regents and each district board to grant full remission of academic fees charged for 128 credits or eight semesters, whichever is longer, less 50 percent of the number of credits or semesters for which the student received educational assistance under the federal ROTC Program, the federal Veterans Vocational Rehabilitation Act, or the federal New GI Bill. As such, if astudent received 128 credits or eight semesters of educational assistance under those federal programs, the bill permits the student to receive full remission.

The Wisconsin G.I. Bill tuition remission has been a bone of contention for the UW System since its 2005 inception because the “cost” of the waived tuition isn’t paid back in full by General Purpose Revenue (GPR) tax dollars – even though key state legislators on the Assembly veterans committee have made it clear that the waived tuition is a “sticker price” and what is really owed to UW is the “wholesale cost.”

UW officials, including Don Nelson, lobbyist for UW-Madison, have worked hard since the program’s birth in 2005 to cut or even shut down the program entirely – again, based on its cost.

In 2007, a proposed legislative cut to the Wisconsin G.I. bill tuition remission resulted in a unanimous (16-0) vote by the legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance to make the cut.  Led by an early WDVA alarm, the resulting outcry from veterans and the public led to a full legislative reversal of the cuts.

So it was no surprise when UW found a way to administratively limit its overhead, despite the fact that lawmakers never approved the cut in last year’s budget legislation.

However, unlike in all previous attempts by the UWS and others to administratively limit the Wisconsin G.I. bill program’s benefits to veterans, these administrative changes by UWS were left unchecked by WDVA and required the legislature to step in.

This time around, veterans organizations and CVSOs will have to work hard to overcome the UW System’s power inside and outside the state Capitol. 

This important bill was authored Rep. Hilgenberg, and co-sponsored in the Assembly by Representatives Turner, Hubler, Sinicki, Ziegelbauer, Lothian, Garthwaite, Pope-Roberts, Berceau, Smith, Soletski, Pasch, Young and Molepske Jr..  In the state Senate, the bill was co-authored by by Senator John Lehman (D-Racine), and co-sponsored by Senators Holperin and Taylor.  The bill has received public support from the CVSO Association of Wisconsin.

Updated State Bill Listing - March 8, 2010

By Anthony Hardie, Life Member, DAV Chapter #2; DAV-WI Special Assistant

On March 3, 2010, the State of Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) issued a bulletin to the state’s 72 county veterans service officers (CVSOs) providing the location on the department’s website of the agency’s listing of bills of interest to veterans that have been introduced in the Wisconsin State Legislature in the current 2009-10 legislative session.

CVSO Bulletin 921, “Accessing the most current information on State Legislative Bills of Interest to Veterans,” also noted that updated information on individual bills in the listing could be accessed by clicking on the hyperlinked bill number.

However, WDVA’s bill listing, located at www.WisVets.com/Legislation, shows that it has not been updated since December 17, 2009 to reflect the current status of the tracked bills.  Additionally, it is missing many key bills of significance to veterans that have been introduced since then.

While serving as WDVA’s chief legislative liaison, I received many requests from veterans organizations and advocates, legislators and staff, members of the media and others request information on bills introduced in the legislature of importance to veterans and the current status of those bills.

I created WDVA’s online bill tracking tool to serve as a public resource and bill tracking tool that was readily available via the Internet at any hour of the day or night.  For many years before I came to WDVA, the agency assisted in these requests because veterans organizations and advocates are key in getting veterans bills enacted into law, so I find it personally disappointing that the agency does not appear to intend to continue updating this legislative tool. I find it especially so since this is not a difficult task for WDVA to perform, yet it is of great value to the state’s veterans service organizations and veterans advocates.

At the request of DAV’s leadership, here is an updated listing of veteran-related bills that have not been included in WDVA’s online bill tracker:

AB 702 (Rep. Dexter), which would provide a long-awaited fix to WDVA’s VetEd tuition reimbursement program, authorizing partial tuition reimbursement up to the 11 credit level for students who take more than 11 credits in a semester.

AB 727 (Rep. Soletski), which creates a new fee of $25 for filing documents with a County Register of Deeds, regardless of the number of pages. It is unclear whether the new $25 filing fee would apply to veterans filing a copy of their DD Form 214 military discharge papers.

AB 729 (Rep. Clark), related to home mortgage loan foreclosures, including those made by WDVA.

AB 752 (Rep. Sinicki), which would create regional “representation” on the Board of Veterans Affairs by dividing the state into seven equally populated regions, and directing that the seven Board members come, one each, from the seven regions.

AB 765 (Rep. Fields), which creates new licensing requirements for mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers, and mortgage loan originators.  The bill eliminates the current law exceptions that expressly exclude WDVA when administering its veterans housing loan program, from being considered a mortgage banker or mortgage broker and that exclude its employees from being considered mortgage loan originators.

AB 781 (Rep. Hilgenberg), which would provide a partial fix to the administrative cuts by UW System to the Wisconsin G.I. Bill tuition remission program.  The bill has been the topic of substantial public discussion, including the issuance of a position paper by the Wisconsin County Veterans Service Officers Association and several major news stories.

AB 810 (Rep. Shilling), which would create a privilege for communication of a veteran mentor participating in an alternative Veterans Court program.

AB 813 (Rep. Sinicki), which would allow recipients of the Purple Heart who also hold a  disabled license plate to receive a Purple Heart emblem for their disabled plate.

SB 213 (Sen. Kreitlow), relating to: notification of alternative dispute resolution in foreclosure actions.  WDVA operates a state veterans home mortgage loan program that would likely also be subject to these provisions.

SB 426 (Sen. Kreitlow), which has a significant impact on records provided to requesters under the State’s Open Records law, including those maintained by WDVA.  This bill would require records to be inspected and provided in the same format in which the original record is kept. 

SB 444 (Sen. Hansen), which would extend the period for claiming a state income tax refund beyond the current four-year limit for individuals who can provide a statement from their physician that  a physical or mental disability prevented the filing of their taxes in a more timely manner.

SB 454 (Sen. Vinehout), which would create a special deer hunting season for military service members who were outside the state on active military duty during the regular deer hunting season.

SB 470 (Sen. Carpenter), which would create a dementia specialist certification program.  Both Wisconsin Veterans Homes (Union Grove, King), have significant numbers of residents suffering from dementia.

SB 490 (Law Revision Committee), related to disability license plates for leased vehicles.

SB 494, (Law Revision Committee), which would allow non-profit organizations to operate county Aging and Disability Resource Centers.  ADRC’s have been a hot button issue in some parts of Wisconsin where county veterans service officers and staffs have been incorporated into ADRC’s.

SB 507 (Sen. Erpenbach), which creates a new fee of $25 for filing documents with a County Register of Deeds, regardless of the number of pages. It is unclear whether the new $25 filing fee would apply to veterans filing a copy of their DD Form 214 military discharge papers.

SB 537 (Sen Robson), which would expand the number of annual events for which veterans and other non-profit organizations may obtain temporary alcohol sales permits.  Interested veterans organizations should review the full bill summary. 

SB 538 (Sen. Carpenter), which would require nursing homes in the state to provide written notice to residents if the home receives a Class “A” federal violation or a federal statement of deficiency that indicates a finding of immediate jeopardy.  Substantial fines would be imposed for failing to comply.  WDVA operates a number of separately licensed nursing homes on the King and Union Grove campuses.

SB 543 (Sen. Plale), which would allow recipients of the Purple Heart who also hold a  disabled license plate to receive a Purple Heart emblem for their disabled plate.

SB 578 (Sen. Kreitlow), which would add a representative of the Blinded Veterans Association of Wisconsin to the State of Wisconsin Council on Veterans Programs.