November 8, 2018, Introduced by Senators HERTEL, GREGORY, HOOD, CONYERS, SCHMIDT and ANANICH and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
A bill to amend 1996 PA 195, entitled
"Police officer's and fire fighter's survivor tuition grant act,"
by amending sections 2 and 3 (MCL 390.1242 and 390.1243), section 2
as amended by 2016 PA 295 and section 3 as amended by 2012 PA 470.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 2. As used in this act:
(a) "Academic year" means the period from September 1 of a
calendar year to August 31 of the next calendar year.
(b) "Child" means an individual who is a natural or adopted
child of a deceased Michigan police officer or deceased Michigan
fire fighter and who was under the age of 21 at the time of the
Michigan police officer's or Michigan fire fighter's death.
(c) "Department" means the department of treasury.
(d) "Eligible student" means a child or surviving spouse of a
Michigan police officer or Michigan fire fighter who was or is
killed in the line of duty.
(e) "Eligible tuition" means the tuition charged by a state
institution of higher education for an undergraduate class.
(f) "Gift aid" means formal scholarships or grants from
sources that do not require repayment.
(g) (f)
"Killed" means that the
Michigan police officer's or
Michigan fire fighter's death is the direct and proximate result of
a traumatic injury incurred in the line of duty.
(h) (g)
"Line of duty" means an
action that a Michigan police
officer or Michigan fire fighter is obligated or authorized to
perform by rule, regulation, condition of employment or service, or
law, including, but not limited to, a social, ceremonial, or
athletic function that the Michigan police officer or Michigan fire
fighter is assigned to or compensated for by the public agency he
or she serves.
(i) (h)
"Michigan police officer"
means a sheriff or sheriff's
deputy of a sheriff's department in this state; village or township
marshal of a village or township in this state; officer of the
police department of any city, village, or township in this state;
officer of the Michigan state police; or any other police officer
or law enforcement officer trained and licensed or certified under
the Michigan commission on law enforcement standards act, 1965 PA
203, MCL 28.601 to 28.615.
(j) (i)
"Michigan fire fighter"
means a member including
volunteer members and members paid on call of a fire department, or
other organization that provides fire suppression and other fire-
related services, of a city, township, village, or county who is
responsible for or is in a capacity that includes responsibility
for the extinguishment of fires. Michigan fire fighter does not
include a person whose job description, duties, or responsibilities
do not include direct involvement in fire suppression.
(k) (j)
"Occupational disease"
means a disease that routinely
constitutes a special hazard in, or is commonly regarded as
concomitant of, the Michigan police officer's or Michigan fire
fighter's occupation.
(l) (k)
"State institution of higher
education" means a public
community or junior college established under section 7 of article
VIII of the state constitution of 1963 or part 25 of the revised
school code, 1976 PA 451, MCL 380.1601 to 380.1607, or a state
university described in section 4, 5, or 6 of article VIII of the
state constitution of 1963.
(m) (l) "Survivor's
tuition grant" means a tuition grant
awarded to an eligible student under this act.
(n) (m)
"Traumatic injury" means
a wound or the condition of
the body caused by external force, including, but not limited to,
an injury inflicted by bullet, explosive, sharp instrument, blunt
object or other physical blow, fire, smoke, chemical, electricity,
climatic condition, infectious disease, radiation, or bacteria, but
excluding an injury resulting from stress, strain, or occupational
disease.
(o) (n)
"Undergraduate class"
means a class or course that
provides a student with academic credit applicable toward a
bachelor or associate degree from a state institution of higher
education.
Sec. 3. (1) The police officer's and fire fighter's survivor
tuition program is created, to be administered by the department.
(2) Beginning in the 2012-2013 academic year, the department
shall provide a survivor's tuition grant in an amount determined by
the department under subsection (3) to each eligible student if all
of the following requirements are met:
(a) The student applies, qualifies, and is admitted as a full-
time, part-time, or summer school student in a program of study
leading to a degree or certificate at a state institution of higher
education.
(b) The student is a legal resident of the state for at least
the 12 consecutive months immediately preceding his or her
application. For an individual who is a dependent of his or her
parent, residency status shall be determined by the parent's
residency. For an individual who is not a dependent, residency
status is determined in the same manner as under title IV of 20 USC
1070 to 1070h.
(c) The student applies to the department for a survivor's
tuition grant under this act and provides evidence satisfactory to
the department that he or she is an eligible student, that the
course or courses for which he or she is seeking a survivor's
tuition grant meet the requirements of subsection (3), and that he
or she meets the other requirements of this section.
(d) If the student is a child of a Michigan police officer or
Michigan fire fighter who was killed in the line of duty, he or she
applies for a survivor's tuition grant under subdivision (c) for
the first time before the age of 26.
(e) The financial aid officer at the state institution of
higher
education certifies to the department that the student needs
the
survivor's tuition grant in order to meet student's eligible
tuition expenses exceed the total of all other gift aid available
to
the student; certifies the amount of that
the student needs for
those
tuition expenses; excess; and certifies that the tuition rate
or
rates used to determine the amount of those expenses do not
exceed
that excess are not greater
than the rate or rates charged
to
residents of this state. If the eligible student's family
income,
excluding any income from death benefits attributable to
the
Michigan police officer's or Michigan fire fighter's death, is
below
400% of poverty level under federal poverty guidelines
published
by the United States department of health and human
services,
the institution shall not include income from any death
benefits
accruing to the eligible student as a result of the
Michigan
police officer's or Michigan fire fighter's death as
family
income in determining financial need under this subdivision.
(f) The student maintains satisfactory academic progress, as
defined by the state institution of higher education, for each term
or semester in which he or she is enrolled. The satisfactory
progress definition used by an institution for federal student
assistance programs under 20 USC 1070 to 1070h is acceptable for
the purposes of this act.
(g) The student has not received a bachelor's degree and has
received tuition assistance under this act for fewer than 124
semester credits or 180 term credits at an institution of higher
education.
(h) The student has not received a survivor's tuition grant in
more than a total of 9 semesters or the equivalent number of terms
or quarters.
(3) The amount of a survivor's tuition grant in an academic
year is the amount of the student's eligible tuition in that
academic
year that is not covered or paid by any scholarship, trust
fund,
statutory benefit, or any other source of tuition coverage
less all other gift aid available to the eligible student. The
department may reduce the amount of a survivor's tuition grant if
it
determines that the tuition rate or rates used to determine the
amount
that by the state institution of higher education certifies
under
subsection (2)(e) that the student needs exceed to determine
the amount of the survivor's tuition grant are greater than the
tuition rate or rates charged by the institution in that academic
year to residents of this state.