B-007: Free Education for Our Heroes Act

[Speaker Rejo]

Free Education for Our Heroes Act
An Act to provide free education for those who have served in our Armed Forces, and for other purposes.

 
BE IT ENACTED by the duly elected Parliament of the Republic of Alduria assembled, 

ARTICLE 1: CITATION

This Act shall be cited for all purposes as the Free Education for Our Heroes Act
 
ARTICLE 2: FUNDING AND DISTRIBUTIONS OF TREASURY FUNDS

a. The National Taxation and Tariffs Authority shall appropriate up to 55% of the revenue collected by the Marijuana Excise Tax Fund in order to pay for these expenditures.

b. Any remaining amount at the end of a fiscal year shall be allocated so that 50% of the surplus funding is directed to paying down any treasury debt, and the remaining portion shall be rolled over into the Marijuana Excise Tax Fund for the next fiscal year.

c. In the event that the funding in the Marijuana Excise Tax Fund is not sufficient to cover the expenditures required by this legislation, the treasury shall be required to fund these expenditures from other sources, and is authorized to take on treasury debt if required to meet this obligation.

d. All funds shall be distributed directly to accredited universities, colleges, or vocational schools within the Republic.

e. All participating universities, colleges, or vocational schools must provide the student with the same opportunities for private scholarships before being dispersed state funding.

f. Any educational institution who fails to comply with this section of the legislation shall be liable to be fined an amount no less than 5,000 ecus and no greater than 5 Million ecus, and may have their ability to participate in this program revoked by the Secretary of the Interior.


ARTICLE 3: PROGAM LIMITATIONS

a. A qualifying person shall be no longer eligible to receive subsidies from this program after being enrolled in an educational institution for the following length of time:

    a1. For a full time (10+ credit hours a semester) 4-year degree student: 5 years

    a2. For a part time (3-9 credit hours a semester) 4-year degree student: 7 years

    a3. For a full time (10+ credit hours a semester) 2-year degree student: 3 years

    a4. For a part time (3-9 credit hours a semester) 2-year degree student: 4 years

b. Qualifying persons who have not exercised their rights to this benefit for lower educational levels may be entitled to limited assistance for graduate, post graduate, and law degrees, but shall only be qualified to receive the subsidy for one year for their program.

c. The Secretary of the Interior shall be empowered to set limitations for the length of time to receive subsidies from this program for any certification or special education which qualifies under this legislation, but does not meet the provisions above.

d. No subsidy may be given to a qualifying person who is studying at a university, college, or vocational school in a foreign country, excepting a limited study abroad program sponsored through a qualifying university, college, or vocational school in the Republic, not exceeding at term of 6 months. The Secretary of the Interior may waive this section in special circumstances.

ARTICLE 4: PROGRAM OVERSIGHT

a. The Secretary of Defense shall be responsible for overseeing the eligibility requirements for service members to qualify for this subsidy.

b. The Secretary of the Interior shall be responsible for overseeing the eligibility requirements for universities, colleges, or vocational schools to participate in this program, and ensure that the provisions of this legislation are properly enforced. The Consul for Public Services shall also be responsible for sanctioning institutions which abuse these subsidies.

c. The Secretary of Finance shall be responsible for overseeing the distributions of funds required by this legislation.

ARTICLE 5: COMMENCEMENT

This legislation and all the provisions therein shall come into force upon receiving proper constitutional approval.

Parliament will now come to order to consider this bill, presented by the Prime Minister on behalf of the Government. 

The Chair now recognizes The Prime Minister.

[Alfonso Velez]

Madam Speaker,

This is a common-sense bill that will allow our heroes who serve in the Armed Forces to receive a free college education. Quite rightly, our Constitution forbids conscription--a practice abhorrent to the fundamental principles of liberty and personal freedom. This Government nevertheless encourages men and women to give serious consideration to serving this nation to protect our liberties and securities--and I believe that this bill offers an excellent incentive for these individuals to serve their country and, in turn, allows their country to serve them in some small way to honour their service. Therefore, I commend this bill to Parliament and ask each of you to approve this common-sense bill.

[Speaker Rejo]

The Chair now opens the floor for general debate. All members may offer debate or amendments at this time. Debate shall last for no less than 48 hours.

[Speaker Rejo]

All time for debate has now expired. The question is: Shall Parliament pass the pending bill? Voting shall last for no less than 48 hours

DIVISION: CLEAR THE LOBBIES!

[Alfonso Velez]

AYE

[Alduria]

National-Liberal Alliance: 23 AYE
National Congress for Social Democracy: 21 AYE
Communist Party of Alduria: 5 AYE

[Speaker Rejo]

All time for voting has expired. On this vote, the result is as follows:

AYE: 129

L&D: 80
N-LA: 23
NCSD: 21
CPA: 5

NAY: 0

ABSTAIN: 123

NC: 57
EDP: 55
MFA: 11

So the Ayes have it and the bill is passed. The bill now goes to the President for his consideration. Unlock!