CSUN University News Clippings

Schwarzenegger urges tuition help for California National Guard troops

(April 29, 2009)

By Eric Bailey
Published: 4/28/2009

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger renewed his push Tuesday for $3.6 million to help finance college education for the citizen soldiers of the California National Guard.

The governor called it “unconscionable” that California is the only state in the nation that does not provide tuition assistance to the men and women of the Guard.

“It’s a mark of shame on our great state,” said Schwarzenegger at a news conference in the Capitol rotunda. “It’s a terrible wrong that must be made right.”

A bill by state Sen. Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto) that proposes college assistance for the Guard is set for a hearing Wednesday in the Senate Education Committee.

Attempts in recent years by the governor and Republicans to win such funding have been turned back amid the state’s ongoing fiscal troubles.

In August, Democrats in the state Senate rejected efforts to launch and fund the program. They argued that the Bush administration’s expanded deployment of California Guard members in Afghanistan and Iraq put the responsibility on the federal government to pay for educational benefits.

State Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), who chairs the education panel, said she expects the bill to sail out of her committee, largely because the budget for 2009-10 already includes half of the funding.

“Overall there’s a feeling that these are benefits needed to acknowledge the service they have given to the country,” Romero said.

But she cautioned that further fiscal problems — including the possibility that voters may reject several budget-related measures in next month’s special election — could scuttle the education effort again.

Military leaders say tuition help is a key incentive for recruiting and retaining Guard members in California.

In the last 12 years, the state has seen a sharp decline in Guard enrollment, which has fallen from 18,000 members in 1996 to fewer than 16,000 today. California has the lowest per capita recruitment rate in the nation, Guard officials say.

At the same time, the California National Guard has experienced a steady expansion of its mission and a drain on its soldiers, who work civilian jobs while serving in the military part time. In recent years, the soldiers have been deployed in wars abroad as well as to help with natural disasters — fires, floods, earthquakes and riots.

California’s Guard was among the first in the nation to respond to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005. Last year, when dry lightning ignited 2,000 fires around the state in a single day, Schwarzenegger called the Guard into action. Crews flew hundreds of missions to drop water on the blazes.

“They jump into action and save the day,” Schwarzenegger said. “The men and women of the National Guard risk everything, yet ask for very little in return. They’re willing to put their lives on hold, leave their jobs and leave their families with short notice.”

The governor noted that Guard troops called to foreign war zones get federal help with college expenses, but those who serve closer to home get no such benefit.

“There’s a gap in the law,” he said.

eric.bailey@latimes.com

Publication: Los Angeles Times