Colorado Tuition Bill For Purple Heart Recipients Killed By House Appropriations Committee

"We’re talking about our countrymen who are serving to protect us and provide the freedom we all enjoy. These are the people who put their lives on the line for us. They deserve to be taken care of"--Rep. Rafael Gallegos, sponsor of the free tuition bill for decorated combat veterans

"The representatives argued in line with the higher education lobby, that the state simply did not have the money to fund the worthy cause"--Rocky Mountain News

Think elections don't have any consequences?

A bill to provide free tuition to post-9/11 Purple Heart recipients (previous coverage) has been killed by the House Appropriations Committee in a 9-4 vote to postpone the bill indefinitely:

Butcher (D)--Yes
Ferrandino (D)--Yes
Judd (D)--Yes
Kerr J. (R)--No
Massey (R)--Yes
McGihon (D)--Yes
McNulty (R)--No
Riesberg (D)--Yes
Vaad (R)--Yes
Weissmann (D)--Yes
White (R)--No
Pommer (D)--Yes
Buescher (D)--No

The bill itself was sponsored by a Democrat--Rep. Rafael Gallegos--but he could not overcome the opposition from fellow Democrats (plus two slimy Republicans) and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (whose Executive Director, David Skaggs, called for in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants last year). The "representatives argued in line with the higher education lobby, that the state simply did not have the money to fund the worthy cause":

The House Appropriations Committee killed a bill this morning that would have given free college tuition to post-9/11 Purple Heart recipients.

Lobbyists for the state's colleges and universities strongly urged lawmakers to vote against the bill after it sailed through the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee in February.

Cathy Wanstrath, a lobbyist for the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, sent an e-mail then to two dozen state Capitol lobbyists, laying out a plan to kill the measure when it was heard by the Appropriations Committee.

"I think you all agree we need to kill this bill, and (the Colorado Department of Higher Education) has been happy to take the lead," said the e-mail obtained by the Rocky Mountain News. "However, we need your help in the next couple of days to count the votes to kill it in committee."

The bill was held over for nearly two months in hopes that its sponsor Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito, could come to a compromise agreement with the higher education lobby. The lobby's chief concern was that the state could not afford to give free tuition to anyone.

This morning, Gallegos offered amendments aimed at decreasing the cost of the bill. His amendments would have capped tuition waivers at 25 total recipients this fall, with a maximum of five at each state institution. That cap would have lifted after the first year.

Gallegos also offered to tighten the award's qualifications only to apply to those who received the Purple Heart or a higher decoration, and only during combat after Sept. 11, 2001.

Those modifications would have kept the cost of the bill to the state under $250,000 in its first year.

However, lawmakers voted against Gallegos' amendment and then voted to postpone the bill indefinitely - essentially killing it - on a vote of 9-4.

Opponents offered the weak argument that state could not afford the tuition waiver, and one Democrat was worried that the bill would attract Purple Heart recipients to Colorado--oh the horrors!:

"We need to take care of many other things," said Rep. Anne McGihon, D-Denver, who said such tuition benefits were the responsibility of the federal government. She added that she was concerned the bill would attract Purple Heart recipients to move to Colorado in order to cash in on the benefit.

Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, voted against postponing it indefinitely, saying the state had an obligation to provide for its veterans.

"I think we could do a lot worse" than attract Purple Heart recipients to Colorado, McNulty said.

Undaunted by the setback, the plucky Gallegos vows to press on:

Gallegos, who is up for re-election this fall, said he'll bring the bill back next year if he wins.

"This is just the beginning of what we can do for veterans and I will continue to pursue the matter," he said. "Colorado is waiting for this bill to pass."

The House Appropriations Committee and its rejection of our service men and women who have made the sacrifice for this country and for this state, is handily taken to task in the comments over at the News:

The PURPLE HEART is awarded to members of the armed forces of the U.S. who are wounded by an instrument of war in the hands of the enemy and posthumously to the next of kin in the name of those who are killed in action or die of wounds received in action. It is specifically a combat decoration.

Thank you for your service to our county, UNFORTUNATELY it means nothing to COLORADO COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION.

I am a post 9/11 war veteran and I have friends who received the Purple Heart and they deserve everything they get for LITERALLY putting there lives on the line for out Country. They have been shot, taken fragments from mortars and RPG's, they have lost limbs, sight, hearing, but not their spirit.

I hope Cathy Wanstrath and her cronies never know what war is like and live in the Freedom the Service Men and Women provide for these ungrateful scum of our country!

A tight-belted response from the party of handouts?

Oh, that's right. It's the military. Not the right target group.

And yes, it does make a difference.

Colorado Disabled Veterans' Tuition Bill Suffers Setback, Now All But Dead

"We’re talking about our countrymen who are serving to protect us and provide the freedom we all enjoy. These are the people who put their lives on the line for us. They deserve to be taken care of"--Rep. Rafael Gallegos, sponsor of the free tuition bill for decorated combat veterans



Email Rep. Gallegos--rafael.gallegos.house@state.co.us--and let him know you support continuing the fight for veterans' tuition



An update from a few weeks back, when it was revealed through leaked emails that the Colorado Department of Higher Education was aggressively trying to kill a tuition waiver bill for veterans--including the disabled--through back-door channels:

In the duel between veterans and the Colorado Department of Higher Education, the bean counters parried successfully this morning.

Lobbyists for Colorado’s cash-strapped colleges and universities unwittingly revealed in an e-mail earlier this month that they planned to kill House Bill 1068, which would grant free tuition to Colorado veterans. The universities contend that they can’t afford the tuition break and that no one can say how many veterans would qualify.

For now, the lobbyists’ plan is working; as of today, the bill was ailing, if not dead.

During the House Appropriations Committee meeting, lawmakers tabled the bill after committee members cast a tie vote on whether to add an amendment that would limit the number of veterans who would qualify. The amendment would have restricted free tuition to disabled veterans who had received the Purple Heart in post 9/11 wars.

Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antoninto, who sponsored the bill, said he was willing to compromise on limiting the tuition break to post 9/11 service members. But, Gallegos thinks it’s too restrictive to give the benefit only to disabled veterans.

“We’re talking about our countrymen who are serving to protect us and provide the freedom we all enjoy,’’ Gallegos said. “These are the people who put their lives on the line for us. They deserve to be taken care of.’’

As noted in the previous post, among the opponents of the bill claiming a lack of funds is David Skaggs, who called for in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants just last year.

The same funding excuse continues to stall the bill:

John Karakoulakis, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Higher Education said his side will also work toward a compromise. Higher education officials had supported the today’s amendment. But, without it, the bill has little chance of moving forward. So, at the moment the bill is stalled.

“We were concerned that this was such a wide-open bill. We were trying to address the neediest veterans,’’ Karakoulakis said.

“We’re going to keep trying to work as well,’’ he said, but he said the cost of the bill is still unclear.

“There are is no good number out there (of how many veterans would qualify),” Karakoulakis said. “We don’t have estimates of costs right now.”

Since when do liberals and the bean-counters in higher education care about costs? If this bill were designed for some other group, there would be a moral imperative to find a way to get this tuition waiver through.

It appears the Democrat-controlled Colorado legislature (it must be noted that this bill is sponsored by a Democrat) can't seem to overcome the lobbying of the Colorado Department of Education, who is behind the attempt to kill the bill:

In an e-mail Monday to two dozen Capitol lobbyists, Cathy Wanstrath, a lobbyist for the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, laid out a plan to kill the measure when it is heard by the Appropriations Committee on Friday.

"I think you all agree we need to kill this bill, and (the Colorado Department of Higher Education) has been happy to take the lead," according to the memo obtained Tuesday by the Rocky Mountain News. "However, we need your help in the next couple of days to count the votes to kill it in committee."

Once again, here is the link to the Colorado Department of Higher Education, as well as the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

Have a message for David Skaggs? (keep it polite)--executivedirector@cche.state.co.us

Colorado Department Of Higher Education Targets Free Tuition Bill For Decorated Veterans

**Update--Combat veteran tuition waiver opponents like David Skaggs called for in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants just last year

---

"We have an obligation to care for our veterans"--Rep. Rafael Gallegos, sponsor of the free tuition bill for decorated combat veterans



Sick. Just sick--the Colorado Department of Higher Education aggressively trying to kill the tuition bill through back-door channels:

The Colorado Department of Higher Education has quietly called on lobbyists for the University of Colorado system to persuade lawmakers to kill a bill that would grant free tuition to decorated combat veterans.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito, sailed through the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on a 9-2 vote last week. But opponents say the state's colleges and universities can't afford it.

In an e-mail Monday to two dozen Capitol lobbyists, Cathy Wanstrath, a lobbyist for the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, laid out a plan to kill the measure when it is heard by the Appropriations Committee on Friday.

"I think you all agree we need to kill this bill, and (the Colorado Department of Higher Education) has been happy to take the lead," according to the memo obtained Tuesday by the Rocky Mountain News. "However, we need your help in the next couple of days to count the votes to kill it in committee."

Gallegos said that Wanstrath already had contacted him.

"I understand we're talking about money here," he said. "I have done my best to explain the benefits of this. We have an obligation to care for our veterans."

The provisions of the bill:

HB 1068

The bill would provide free state tuition to individuals who were legal Colorado residents at the time of the military action for which they received the Purple Heart or a higher combat service medal. Veterans also would have to meet the one-year state residency requirement prior to enrolling at school.

Making excuses for an inability to fund this program, David Skaggs scrapes the bottom of the barrel:

David Skaggs, director of the state Department of Higher Education, said that as a Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam, he has empathy for what veterans who have been decorated for combat action have gone through.

"Our position on this is taken with enormous regret because of this, but we simply have no idea what the price tag on that would be," Skaggs said.

The Legislative Council staff has said that accurate information does not exist on how many potential recipients might benefit from the bill.

But the staff noted that if 10 undergraduates took advantage of the tuition waiver at CU-Boulder for four years, it would cost the school $216,720.

A "hugely constrained" budget has no room for such a waiver, Skaggs said, adding that it also would force CU's medical school to waive its $25,000 tuition for each decorated veteran.

Well, with Ward Churchill on his way out, that should free up some money to fund the tuition waiver.

The free tuition for decorated combat veterans is a small price to pay in comparison to what these brave Americans paid for our freedom.

Here is the link to the Colorado Department of Higher Education, as well as the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

Have a message for David Skaggs? (keep it polite)--executivedirector@cche.state.co.us

Profiles In Courage: Two Colorado Marines

After 5 . . . 5! tours in Iraq, Marine Brad Adams celebrated his birthday, but also mourned the loss of his best friend, and would return to service if not for his injuries (video):

Even with two purple hearts and countless medals in his family room, Adams hesitates to talk about himself or his accomplishments.

"It's the hardest thing because my Marines are still out there and I'm back here," said Adams.

Adams uses medication to sleep at night, but his passion to serve remains strong.

If he wasn't injured, Adams would return to uniform today.

"I could do it right now," said Adams.

His injuries?

The bomb scarred one side of Adams' body and left him with only partial hearing and damage to about 40 percent of the tendons in his left arm. He leans on a cane and relies on a colostomy bag.

But he instead focuses on his best friend, his "brother":

"This is awesome. It's great to be home. This time definitely stands out for me," he said. "Someone was looking out for me because I shouldn't be here.

"It's the best feeling in the world to see all my folks and to give them hugs again. But there's also a large part of me that's missing," he added.

That part would be Stokes, a 24-year-old Marine from Auburn, Calif. The two have been best friends for the last four years. They fought together. They would go abalone fishing off the coast of California. They got tattooed together.

"He's my brother," said Adams, who has three sisters. "He's the closest thing I had to a brother."

---

"Hand Grenade Joe" Espinosa, 87, of Arvada, talks Sunday about his experience fighting the Japanese in World War II. The former Marine recently received a Purple Heart and other honors for his service more than six decades ago. (Post / John Prieto)

And from the "better late than never" department, an 87-year old Marine, "Hand Grenade Joe" Espinosa finally received his long overdue Purple Heart for his service in WWII (video):

Far below him in the dense jungle of Guadalcanal, Colorado's Joe Espinosa could see the palm leaves stirring.

He couldn't see the Japanese, they were so well-hidden.

But the shaking of the leaves told him they were climbing the ridge to encircle him and his company of Marines, who were 30 to 40 feet behind him.

And that moment, the miner's son from Trinidad took action that earned him his nickname that remains today.

"Hand Grenade Joe" sprung into action.

He had two boxes of grenades with him on the point of the ridge.

In rapid succession, he rained the grenades down the hill - at least 24 of them.

"They retreated. A hand grenade going down a slope like that can cause a lot of damage," Espinosa, 87, recalled Sunday.

At reunions, the guys he fought with always call out: "How you doing, Hand Grenade Joe? and "Hey, Joe, you remember those grenades?"