FIRST REGULAR SESSION
93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES ROORDA (Sponsor), HENKE, OXFORD, CASEY, MEADOWS,
WILDBERGER, BROWN (50), DARROUGH, STORCH, ROBINSON, LOW (39), HARRIS (23), LAMPE,
AULL, SKAGGS, BAKER (25), SALVA, CHAPPELLE-NADAL, DONNELLY, ZWEIFEL, HUGHES,
BOWMAN, JOHNSON (90), LeVOTA, DOUGHERTY, WALSH, JOLLY, SPRENG, YOUNG, BURNETT,
VILLA, WITTE, SCHOEMEHL, YAEGER, BRINGER, HARRIS (110), RUCKER, HOSKINS, MEINERS,
KUESSNER, WAGNER, LIESE, WHORTON, HAYWOOD, SHOEMYER, JOHNSON (61), PAGE,
MOORE, WALTON, DENISON, FISHER AND SANDER (Co-sponsors).
Read 1st time February 14, 2005 and copies ordered printed.
STEPHEN S. DAVIS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapters 41, 143, and 173, RSMo, by adding thereto three new sections relating to relief for family members of active duty Missouri military personnel.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapters 41, 143, and 173, RSMo, are amended by adding thereto three new sections, to be known as sections 41.217, 143.823, and 173.233, to read as follows:
41.217. 1. Subject to appropriation, the adjutant general shall have the power to make grants from the Missouri Military Family Relief fund to families of persons who are members of the Missouri National Guard or Missouri residents who are members of the reserves of the armed forces of the United States and who have been called to active duty as a result of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The adjutant general shall establish eligibility criteria for the grants by the promulgation of rules and regulations.
2. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, RSMo, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, and, if applicable, section 536.028, RSMo. This section and chapter 536, RSMo, are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536, RSMo, to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2005, shall be invalid and void.
143.823. 1. In each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2005, each individual or corporation entitled to a tax refund in an amount sufficient to make a designation under this section may designate that one dollar or any amount in excess of one dollar on a single return, and two dollars or any amount in excess of two dollars on a combined return, of the refund due be credited to the Missouri Military Family Relief fund. If any individual or corporation that is not entitled to a tax refund in an amount sufficient to make a designation under this section wishes to make a contribution to the Missouri Military Family Relief fund, such individual or corporation may, by separate check, draft, or other negotiable instrument, send in with the payment of taxes, or may send in separately, that amount, clearly designated for the Missouri Military Family Relief fund, the individual or corporation wishes to contribute. The department of revenue shall deposit such amount to the Missouri Military Family Relief fund as provided in subsection 2 of this section.
2. The director of revenue shall transfer at least monthly all contributions designated by individuals under this section to the state treasurer for deposit to the "Missouri Military Family Relief Fund", which is hereby created. The fund shall be administered by the adjutant general.
3. The director of revenue shall transfer at least monthly all contributions designated by the corporations under this section, less an amount sufficient to cover the cost of collection and handling by the department of revenue, to the state treasurer for deposit to the Missouri Military Family Relief fund.
4. A contribution designated under this section shall only be transferred and deposited in the Missouri Military Family Relief fund after all other claims against the refund from which such contribution is to be made have been satisfied.
5. The state treasurer shall distribute moneys deposited in the Missouri Military Family Relief fund in accordance with the provisions of section 41.217, RSMo.
6. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33.080, RSMo, to the contrary, any moneys remaining in the fund at the end of the biennium shall not revert to the credit of the general revenue fund.
7. The state treasurer shall invest moneys in the fund in the same manner as other funds are invested. Any interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be credited to the fund.
173.233. 1. As used in this section, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the following terms mean:
(1) "Board", the coordinating board for higher education;
(2) "Child", a birth child, adopted child or stepchild;
(3) "Grant", the grant awarded under this section to children of Missouri veterans killed in combat while on active duty after 2001;
(4) "Institution of postsecondary education", any approved Missouri public institution of postsecondary education, as defined in section 173.205;
(5) "Tuition", any tuition or incidental fee or both charged by an institution of postsecondary education, as defined in this section, for attendance at the institution by a student as a resident of this state;
(6) "Veteran", a person who served in the military and to whom the following criteria shall apply:
(a) The veteran was a Missouri resident when first entering the military service and at the time of death;
(b) The veteran dies as a result of combat action or the veteran's death was attributable to an illness that was or could have been contracted while serving on active duty; and
(c) The veteran served on active duty after 2001.
2. Within the limits of the amounts appropriated therefor, the coordinating board for higher education shall award annually up to twenty-five grants to children of Missouri veterans who have been killed in action while on active duty on or after March 1, 2003, to attend institutions of postsecondary education in this state. If the waiting list of eligible children exceeds fifty, the coordinating board may petition the general assembly to expand the quota. If the quota is not expanded the eligibility of children on the waiting list shall be extended.
3. A child may receive a grant under this section only so long as the child is enrolled in a program leading to a certificate, or an associate or baccalaureate degree. In no event shall a child receive a grant beyond the completion of the first baccalaureate degree, regardless of age. No child shall receive more than one hundred percent of tuition and fees when combined with similar funds made available to such child.
4. The coordinating board for higher education shall:
(1) Promulgate all necessary rules and regulations for the implementation of this section;
(2) Determine minimum standards of performance in order for a child to remain eligible to receive a grant under this program;
(3) Make available on behalf of a child an amount toward the child's tuition and fees which is equal to the grant to which the child is entitled under the provisions of this section;
(4) Provide the forms and determine the procedures necessary for a child to apply for and receive a grant under this program.
5. In order to be eligible to receive a grant under this section, a child shall be certified as eligible by a Missouri state veterans service officer. In the case of an illness-related death, such certification shall be made upon qualified medical certification by a Veterans Administration medical authority that the illness was or could have been contracted while serving on active duty and contributed to or was the cause of death of the veteran, as defined in subsection 1 of this section.
6. A child who is enrolled or has been accepted for enrollment as an undergraduate postsecondary student at an approved institution of postsecondary education shall receive a grant in an amount not to exceed the actual tuition, as defined in this section, charged at an approved institution of postsecondary education where the child is enrolled or accepted for enrollment.
7. A child who is a recipient of a grant may transfer from one approved public institution of postsecondary education to another without losing his or her entitlement under this section. The board shall make necessary adjustments in the amount of the grant. If a grant recipient at any time withdraws from the institution of postsecondary education so that under the rules and regulations of that institution he or she is entitled to a refund of any tuition, the institution shall pay the portion of the refund to which he or she is entitled attributable to the grant for that semester or similar grading period to the board.
8. If a child is granted financial assistance under any other student aid program, public or private, the full amount of such aid shall be reported to the board by the institution and the eligible child.
9. Nothing in this section shall be construed as a promise or guarantee that a person will be admitted to an institution of postsecondary education or to a particular institution of postsecondary education, will be allowed to continue to attend an institution of postsecondary education after having been admitted, or will be graduated from an institution of postsecondary education.
10. The benefits conferred by this section shall be available to any academically qualified children of veterans as defined in subsection 1 of this section. Children who are eligible, shall be permitted to apply for full benefits conferred by this section until they reach twenty-five years of age.
11. Pursuant to section 23.253, RSMo, of the Missouri Sunset Act:
(1) The provisions of the new program authorized under this section shall automatically sunset six years after the effective date of this section unless reauthorized by an act of the general assembly; and
(2) If such program is reauthorized, the program authorized under this section shall automatically sunset twelve years after the effective date of the reauthorization of this section; and
(3) This section, shall terminate on September first of the calendar year immediately following the calendar year in which the program authorized under this section is sunset.