Local veterans group urges support as sibling eligibility bills for Hazelwood Act move to committee

Representatives of local veterans groups updated the committee on state legislation to expand the Hazelwood Act to include siblings of service members killed in action.

Ricardo Quijano told the committee the House bill is filed as House Bill 1867 and was filed on Jan. 15, 2025; he said a companion Senate bill, Senate Bill 1338, was filed Feb. 18, 2025 and had been referred to the Texas Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. Quijano said the bills would add siblings to the list of persons eligible to receive the Hazelwood educational benefit in the same manner currently available to a spouse or children of a deceased service member.

Quijano described the origin of the change as a response to the death of a local service member, David Espinosa, who died in the August 2021 Kabul attack; his family’s lost educational legacy motivated advocates to seek the statutory amendment. Quijano said state legislators Richard Raymond (House) and Judy Safrani (Senate) sponsored the filings and that the bills will need to be heard in committee and possibly amended before moving forward. He encouraged committee members and stakeholders to contact committee chairs and make their support known.

Committee members asked technical questions about how the benefit would apply (for example whether siblings would be treated as dependents). Quijano said the bill language as filed adds siblings to the existing language that provides benefits to surviving spouses or children; he said committees can amend language such as limits or dependency definitions during committee consideration. He recommended consulting the Texas Veterans Commission website for current Hazelwood Act guidance and to track bill progress.

No formal committee action was taken on the legislation during the meeting; the item was informational.