“Save the Hazelwood Act”
Written by admin, May 10, 2015, Comments Off
Courtesy Gabriel Lopez,
(Laredo, Texas)-The South Texas Afghanistan Iraq Veterans Association strongly opposes HB 3772 which drastically cuts educational benefits to Texas Veterans and their Families. We urge all veterans to oppose this bill by calling their state representatives.
Bill 3572 includes the following:
· Six years of service to be eligible for Hazelwood benefits. This is a drastic increase in the current statute, which is 180 days. More importantly, six years of service intentionally cuts out the majority of Veterans who serve for four years.
· SB 1735 will require that a Veteran or their child utilize all Hazelwood benefits within 15 years of being honorably discharged from the military. Unfortunately this will disqualify a majority of Veterans’ children from utilizing the education benefit earned by their parent on the battlefield.
· SB1735 will cap the Legacy portion of Hazelwood at 60 total credit hours. This is counterintuitive to a Veteran’s child completing their degree. It will limit it to 2 years and then eliminate this financial aid for that student for their remaining two years thereby hindering their chances for graduating with an undergraduate degree.
We urge all veterans to stand for their benefits! Oppose Bill HB 3572.
