Marty Schladen

El Paso Times

AUSTIN — Lawmakers on Tuesday renewed a debate over whether to curtail a Texas program that allows veterans and their dependents to attend college tuition-free.

Expenses have grown rapidly since a 2009 change included veterans’ children in the benefit. And with taxes from oil and gas revenue dwindling, state budget writers face a difficult job as they prepare for the 2017 Legislative session.

But advocates of the program say the state should not break a promise it made to its veterans.

“I don’t know what you’re going to do,” former Texas state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, told a joint hearing of the House Defense and Veterans Affairs and Higher Education committees. “You have a lot of options ahead of you. But I do know it’s hard to go back on a promise.”

The issue puts the state’s Republican leadership in a difficult position as lawmakers try to keep down spending while not offending Texas veterans.

“Speaker (Joe) Straus (R-San Antonio) is extremely concerned about veterans and making sure we do the right thing,” said Defense and Veterans Affairs Chairwoman Susan Lewis King, R-Abilene.

There was an attempt to limit benefits under the program during last year’s legislative session. But a group of lawmakers led by state Rep. César Blanco, D-El Paso, beat it back during the symbolically important Memorial Day weekend.

Since then, however, the state’s financial outlook has dimmed and college and universities are being asked to trim their requests for state funding by 4 percent.

The Texas Comptroller’s office last month estimated that costs of the Hazlewood program will increase from $178 million in 2015 to $286 million in 2017.

By 2025, the number of students in the program is expected to peak at 62,000 from 39,000 in 2015. Most of that growth is not among veterans themselves, but their children, said Michael Cline, associate director of the Hobby Center for the Study of Texas at Rice University.

With the state covering only a fraction of the cost of the Hazlewood program, colleges and universities have had to make up for the increases themselves.

“It’s unsustainable,” said Brian McCall, chancellor of the Texas State University System.

He said the system has seen a 20 percent cut in state funding over the past six years and its educators are making less than the state average. Meanwhile, enrollment and Hazlewood expenses are increasing, he said.

The comptroller’s report ranked the top 15 Texas colleges and universities according to their 2015 Hazlewood expenses.

Texas A&M University at College Station topped the list, shouldering about $18 million in Hazlewood costs, the report said. The University of Texas at El Paso came in 10th, with just over $4 million in such costs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi was 13th, paying $3.6 million in Hazlewood costs, the report said.

Much of those costs are ending up in other students’ tuition bills, the comptroller’s report said, estimating that the average Texas State University student paid $500 last year to help support the program.

“Instead of talking about institutions bearing the cost, students are bearing the cost and those costs are considerable,” Raymund Paredes, commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, testified Tuesday.

Cline, of the Hobby Center, estimated that Hazlewood costs could be cut significantly through measures such as only granting the benefit to veterans who serve for six years or more.

But others said that the benefit in its current form is an important tool to recruit soldiers and to keep military installations in Texas.

Van de Putte, a 25-year veteran of the Legislature, said that the Hazlewood program has helped Texas avoid deep cuts by the U.S. Base Realignment and Closure Commission since she joined the Legislature.

Lt. Col. James Carney, commander of the Texas Army National Guard Recruiting Command, said that along with the Montgomery GI Bill, the Hazlewood program is an important recruiting tool.

“New enlistees consistently acknowledge the importance of educational benefits in their enlistment decision,” he said.

Carney said that according to a 2014 survey, 74 percent of enlistees said educational benefits were their primary reason for joining.

Blanco said it helped him decide to join the military.

“I know when I was sitting in that office, Hazlewood and the GI Bill looked pretty good knowing I didn’t have any way to pay for college,” he said.

It’s unclear whether the Legislature will find more money for the Hazlewood program in 2017, restrict its benefits or leave colleges and universities to figure it out. On Tuesday, Democrats on the panel seemed to support more state funding, while Republicans mostly asked for more information and data.

King said her committee would produce a report on the issue in the next few months.

Marty Schladen can be reached at 512-479-6606; mschladen@elpasotimes.com; @martyschladen on Twitter.

The Hazlewood Act

• Texas’ Hazlewood Act provides qualified veterans, spouses, and dependent children with an education benefit of up to 150 hours of tuition exemption, including most fee charges, at public institutions of higher education in the state. The benefit doesn’t include living expenses, books or supply fees.

• For more information, visit the Texas Veterans Commission website at tvc.texas.gov/Hazlewood-Act.aspx.