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Committee OKs waiver for Guard tuition benefits when training delays block eligibility
Summary
SB 35 won committee approval to allow regulatory waivers for Arkansas National Guard members who cannot complete required training on schedule, a problem the sponsors linked to pandemic-related quarantines and reduced training slots.
Senator English presented SB 35 and called Colonel Jeff Wood of the Arkansas National Guard to explain the measure. The committee voted to pass the bill by voice vote.
“Basically, this involves our Arkansas National Guard tuition waiver program,” Colonel Jeff Wood told the committee. He said current program rules require soldiers to complete basic and individual training courses before becoming eligible for tuition waivers. In some cases, staff have seen service members delayed into the next year and therefore prevented from using the waiver for that academic term.
Wood said the state would adopt rules to permit waivers in those rare instances so a service member who cannot get into required military schools because of scheduling limits or quarantine requirements can still begin college. “Because a lot of the military schools are requiring a, you know, a 14 day, quarantine period, and then they're also limiting the number of slots they have because of quarantine,” Wood said.
Committee members offered no additional questions, and the bill was approved by voice vote. The transcript records no roll-call tally.
