October 04, 2016

Department Spotlight: Legionnaires preserve education benefit in Texas

By Henry Howard
Accountable
Department Spotlight: Legionnaires preserve education benefit in Texas
Department Spotlight: Legionnaires preserve education benefit in Texas

Legion members persuaded the state legislature to keep the Hazelwood Act, which helps veterans afford college, two years ago. Now, they are gearing up for a similar battle.

Editor’s note: This is a weekly series of Department Spotlight stories featuring unique programs and initiatives of departments throughout The American Legion. Department adjutants are invited to recommend subjects for their departments by emailing magazine@legion.org.

Veterans in Texas have come to rely on the Hazelwood Act.

In 1923, the Texas Legislature approved the legislation that recognized that access to higher education is vital to transitioning servicemembers. That year honorably discharged World War I veterans were exempted from paying certain tuitions and fees at public universities. Two decades later, the legislation was expanded to include all veterans and their family members since they, too, sacrifice when a loved one is called to duty.

Once the national GI Bill was signed into law, the Hazelwood Act helped ensure that Texas veterans would be covered once their GI Bill funding was used.

For generations, the Hazelwood legislation has exempted Texas veterans – and some spouses or dependents – from up to 150 credit hours of tuition and fees at any public institution within the state. Under the Hazelwood Legacy Program, veterans can pass on this benefit to a qualified child.

But, if not for the efforts of The American Legion Department of Texas, this benefit would have ceased to exist. Dozens of Legion members persuaded their representatives to keep Hazelwood.

“The state of Texas was looking at cutting back Hazelwood two years ago because of financial issues,” Department of Texas Commander Walter Ivie said. “The American Legion Department of Texas descended upon the state legislature and made multiple appearances day after day. We expressed an opinion which resulted in keeping Hazelwood in the budget that year.”

Now, the department is gearing up for another battle to keep the prized benefit. Some other organizations are willing to negotiate, but the Legion wants the program kept as it was envisioned decades ago.

“Our stance, starting off as, is we’re at least going to start again with keeping the whole program as it exists today,” Ivie said. “We’re going to fight to keep it that way. And we’re also going to get with the colleges and universities that are making high estimates of their cost. We’re going to have to get better statistics and maybe then we could solve the issue this year, if we can figure out what the actual cost is and then just convince the legislature that’s a cost the veterans in Texas are worth.”

Ivie knows first-hand the value of Hazelwood, which he used to help pay for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. “I was hired by Price Waterhouse and about six months on the job one of the partners came up to me and said, ‘You were almost too old for us to hire,’” Ivie recalled. “I was 27 years old at the time, and the reason I was 27 years old was because I put four years into the service. Had it not been for Hazelwood, I might have gotten to be too old to make a difference in the career path that I took at that time.”

But it’s not just the money for the Texas veterans.

“When Texas enacted this program years ago, before my time, the veterans felt like they had earned the respect of the state and actually the funds were somewhat helpful,” Ivie said. “But it was the respect I felt helped, having come back from Vietnam, was the state recognizing that service through the Hazelwood Act was probably the most significant thing for me. The money was important; the fact that the state appreciated the service we’ve given was demonstrated by the Hazelwood Act.”

Department Adjutant Bill West compared the Texas lobbying effort to the Legion goes to Capitol Hill during Washington Conference.

“We took that same approach and got boots on the ground in the Capitol saying, ‘I’m one person but I represent umpteen veterans back home, so what do you think on the issue, senator or representative?’” West said. “I can take that message back to my people and report to them. Do you support it? Do you not support it? And why? So I can let my post members know when it’s election time.”

West noted that Hazelwood is not just for undergraduates programs. As an example, he cited a veteran who used the GI Bill to get an undergrad degree, then entered the workforce. “That 150 hours is there until you use it up,” he said, noting that it would help someone wanting to change careers or develop new skills. “There’s a time limit. It’s like 15 years after you get out, which for many veterans that’s kind of hard.”

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