Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced his budget priorities for the next legislative session Wednesday.
One of his priorities is to allocate millions of dollars to a tuition waiver program for military spouses and children whose loved ones were killed or disabled while on duty, the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program, also known as VMSDEP.
“I am proposing an additional $120 million dollars, 60 million each year, to allow heroes and their families to pursue their educational dreams at Virginia schools,” Youngkin said.
Youngkin announced this proposal during his annual budget address to the Joint Money Committee on Wednesday.
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VMSDEP, which has been around since 1996, gives tuition waivers to spouses and children of military members who were killed or severely disabled during duty, like Kayla Owen of Stafford whose husband was severely disabled during his time as a Marine.
“We’re excited to hear that there might be a potential long-term solution for this,” Owen said.
News4 has been extensively covering the battle over VMSDEP since May, when the program was put in jeopardy after lawmakers passed a budget that adjusted VMSDEP’s eligibility requirements, rendering it practically useless. They did this to offset cost of the program, which they say has grown by 450% in the last five years.
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VMSDEP was eventually reinstated during a special session in July.
To ensure the program stays funded, Youngkin wants to use money from a $1.2 billion Virginia 529 surplus.
“According to the projections from the State Council of Higher Education, this investment will fully fund the VMSDEP waiver,” Youngkin said.
Youngkin’s proposal would need to be approved by the General Assembly.
But there are many who still have doubts about the program.
The Virginia Senate Majority Leader, Scott Surovell, told News4 that he’d rather see the money go toward scholarships for low income, first-time college students.
Owen hopes there will be enough support to keep the program around.
“The program has been in place for many, many years and its helped a lot of people and the sacrifice has already been made,” Owen said.
Virginia’s next legislative session begins Jan. 8.
