PHOENIX - An Arizona lawmaker wants to provide free state university and community college tuition to children of military members who are killed in combat.
"We can't replace the parent they lost, but hopefully we can replace a little bit of what that parent would have been able to give them, and that's the ability to send them to college," Rep. Rick Murphy, R-Glendale, said in a telephone interview.
Murphy introduced HB 2510, which would provide tuition waivers for children and stepchildren of U.S. military, reserve and Arizona National Guard members killed while on federal active duty. Those children would have to be under 30 years of age and live in Arizona.
Rep. Trish Groe, a Lake Havasu City Republican who is a co-sponsor, called the measure a way of showing that Arizona supports those who risk their lives for their country.
"If this bill and the intent of this bill can provide them with additional comfort while they're out serving our country, I am proud to give them that peace of mind," Groe said in a telephone interview.
State law already requires the Arizona Board of Regents and community college districts to provide tuition waivers to the children and spouses of law and correctional officers, firefighters, paramedics and National Guard members killed in the line of duty. Spouses must not have remarried and children must be 30 and under.
Arizona law also provides tuition waivers to members of the Arizona National Guard who received a Purple Heart award on or after Sept. 11, 2001, or who were discharged due to an injury or disability suffered on duty. Three bills, SB 1017 and companion bills SB 1013 and HB 2094, would allow that scholarship to be transferred to spouses in some cases.
Virginia leaders are trying to sort out how to handle a law requiring public universities to provide a free education to children and spouses of military members who are killed, missing in action or prisoners of war or who become disabled.
That law is intended to cover tuition as well as books, room and board and other fees. Universities have balked at covering expenses other than tuition, said Kevin Hall, spokesman for Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, in a telephone interview.
Kaine has proposed adding $1 million to the state's budget to pay for costs other than tuition.
Murphy said he didn't model the bill on other states' laws. But he said he would not object to adding other college expenses to his bill or including spouses of fallen military personnel.
"One thing I did not want to do is create a situation where there was sticker shock and scare people away from it by having it be too broad," Murphy added. "It's a lot easier to add to a program than it is to scale it back or get rid of it."
