Committee reviews bill S.130 to make National Guard tuition benefits permanent and expand eligibility

Senators and National Guard officials on the committee reviewed S.130, a bill to amend the Vermont National Guard Tuition Benefit Program, saying the measure would incorporate temporary changes from Act 140 (2022) into the permanent statute and expand eligibility to include graduate degrees.

The bill would add graduate degrees to the program and preserve the program’s existing limit that only one undergraduate degree be funded by the program; it would also allow a Guard member to receive a graduate degree funded by the program even if they previously received an undergraduate degree under the program. Legislative counsel Beth St. James said S.130 “is an amendment to section 28 57 and title 16, which is the National Guard Tuition Benefit Program statute.”

Why it matters: Committee members and Guard leaders said the tuition benefit is an active recruiting and retention tool for the Vermont National Guard. Brig. Gen. Hank Carter, the state’s deputy adjutant general, told the committee the Guard “fully support[s] S.130,” saying the program has helped recruiting and retention and that use of the benefit has grown since the program’s expansion in 2018 and after the 2022 pilot.

Most important provisions discussed

- Graduate-degree eligibility: S.130 would explicitly allow a Guard member to pursue a graduate degree under the program even if the member previously received an undergraduate degree paid for by the program. The language also adds a promissory-note requirement for graduate-degree recipients: upon receipt of the graduate degree and until the member satisfies the applicable service commitment, the member must be employed full time in Vermont or, if unemployed, be actively seeking full-time employment in Vermont. Legislative counsel described that employment requirement as being “directly taken from Act 140 from 2022.”

- Undergraduate-degree limits: Current law generally bars funding for someone who has already earned a baccalaureate; the bill clarifies that the program will not fund a second undergraduate degree if the first undergraduate degree was funded under the program or another state funding source designated for Guard members. Committee members discussed whether the statute’s wording ("baccalaureate," "degree," etc.) should be adjusted to make inclusion of associate degrees and certificates explicit.

- Promissory-note termination: Language carried over from Act 140 would allow the adjutant general’s office to terminate tuition benefits if a graduate-degree recipient earned the degree under the program and then failed to satisfy the work requirement tied to the promissory note.

Budget and usage data discussed

Guard witnesses said the program receives $1.3 million in state funding per fiscal year and that roughly $1.1 million has been used in recent years. Committee discussion noted that the House proposed reducing the appropriation by $100,000; members said expanding graduate eligibility could increase demand and that the committee should consider restoring or protecting the appropriation during the appropriations process. The Guard presented annual usage counts (for example, academic-year users rose from 57 to more than 100 over several years) and said master’s-degree usage rose from seven to 18 users in one recent year after the pilot.

Service-commitment detail and safeguards

Guard officials said the program ties education funding to a service commitment (often described as a “two-for-one” ratio: two years of service per one year of tuition support). Officials clarified that existing law protects members who begin a degree but do not finish for reasons unrelated to failure to complete Guard service: repayment language is triggered when the member fails to complete the required Guard service, not merely when a degree is not completed for life reasons.

Questions and policy choices for the committee

Committee members asked whether the statute should explicitly allow associate degrees, how to describe the single-undergraduate-degree rule, and if professional degrees (for example, M.D. or J.D.) should be eligible. Counsel recommended that wording choices ("baccalaureate" vs. "degree") are policy decisions the committee can resolve in drafting and that clarifying language can be provided in a revised draft.

What’s next

Staff said S.130 would take effect 2025-07-01, timed to the sunset of the Act 140 pilot, if enacted as described. Committee members asked the Guard to provide a short memo for the Appropriations Committee supporting restoration of the $100,000 the House proposed to reallocate. No formal vote was recorded in the transcript; the discussion was a briefing and fact-finding session for the committee staff and members.

Ending note: Supporters and Guard witnesses characterized the program as a recruiting and retention incentive that also provides veterans and part-time Guardsmen access to higher education and campus supports.