SSB 1049 (LSB 1396XD (3) 91)

SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC DEFENSE BILL)

A BILL FOR

An Act  modifying provisions related to the national guard service scholarship program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 256.210, subsection 2, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  a.  Scholarship Subject to paragraph “b”, scholarship awards paid pursuant to this section shall not exceed the resident tuition rate established for institutions of higher learning under the control of the state board of regents. If the amount appropriated in a fiscal year for purposes of this section is insufficient to provide scholarships to all national guard members who apply for the program and who are determined by the adjutant general to be eligible for the program, the adjutant general shall, in coordination with the commission, determine the distribution of scholarships. However, scholarship awards paid pursuant to this section and shall not be less than fifty percent of the resident tuition rate established for institutions of higher learning under the control of the state board of regents or fifty percent of the tuition rate at the institution attended by the national guard member, whichever is lower. Neither eligibility nor scholarship award determinations shall be based upon a national guard member’s unit, the location at which drills are attended, or whether the eligible individual is a member of the Iowa army or air national guard.
   b.  Scholarship awards paid pursuant to this section shall not exceed the difference between the tuition rate at the institution attended by the national guard member less any financial aid the national guard member receives under 10 U.S.C. §2007.
   c.  If the amount appropriated in a fiscal year for purposes of this section is insufficient to provide scholarships to all national guard members who apply for the program and who are determined by the adjutant general to be eligible for the program, the adjutant general shall, in coordination with the commission, determine the distribution of scholarships.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill modifies provisions related to the national guard service scholarship program.
   The national guard service scholarship program, administered by the college student aid commission, provides annual awards to Iowa national guard members who attend eligible Iowa colleges and universities. Current law provides that scholarship awards under the program shall not exceed the resident tuition rate established for institutions of higher learning under the control of the state board of regents. The bill provides that the amount of the scholarship awards also shall not exceed the difference between the tuition rate at the institution attended by the national guard member less any financial aid the national guard member receives under certain specified federal programs.
   Current law provides that, for purposes of the national guard service scholarship program, neither eligibility nor scholarship award determinations shall be based upon a national guard member’s unit, the location at which drills are attended, or whether the eligible individual is a member of the Iowa army or air national guard. The bill strikes this provision.