NORFOLK, Va. — Some military families are still left in limbo after the Virginia Senate failed to act in a special session.
Tuesday’s meeting came after pressure from those families and the Governor to walk back changes on a military education benefits program.
In the recently approved state budget, lawmakers and Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin made changes to the eligibility of the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program, due to rising costs. The program is a tuition waiver for families of fallen or disabled veterans, allowing those who qualify to receive higher education for free.
"Actions were taken to restrict the program, but that has ended up being unpopular with Virginia military families who would have been eligible potentially to benefit from the program, and so now the legislature is trying to discern how to walk that back," said Jesse Richman, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Old Dominion University.
Democratic State Senator Louise Lucas, who is also the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee Chair, single-handedly blocked the proposed legislation from making it to the floor for a vote.
"Neither of my previously introduced appropriations bills are going to be docketed today," she told her fellow senators.
She instead established a workgroup, similar to Youngkin’s task force.
Lucas said the work group will meet June 28 to start gathering public comments, discuss the program and make recommendations to the full committee in September.
"In addition, I am going to ask that JLARC expedite a review immediately to provide objective research to these members,” said Sen. Lucas.
In a statement yesterday, Youngkin said he was stunned by the Senate's lack of action "to even consider a simple bill, supported by a bipartisan majority of senators."
Richman said there's a bipartisan agreement that changes need to be made, but the clash comes from what the changes will be.
"It would have passed probably had it come to a vote, but it didn't," he said. "Little bit embarrassing for everybody to come in short term, get people's hopes up, maybe they'll address this very quickly, didn't happen. Looking at it from a broader perspective, legislation always takes time."
13News Now has reached out to Sen. Lucas multiple times over the last three months to discuss the changes and now the attempt to walk them back, but we have yet to receive a response from her. We've also reached out to other lawmakers over the course of the backlash to the changes, but have not heard back from many of them.
Now, the House of Delegates is gearing up for their special session on the 28th, which will cost taxpayers almost $35,000 per day if every lawmaker shows up, per House of Delegates Clerk Paul Nardo.
House Speaker Don Scott has said he supports a full repeal of the recent changes to VMSDEP.
"Now it may be the House moves and the Senate comes back into session," said Richman.
The Senate is set to return on Friday, which costs taxpayers roughly $8,000 per day.