Connecticut HB 5417: AN ACT ALLOWING CHILDREN OF VETERANS TO USE SUCH VETERAN'S UNUSED TUITION WAIVERS AND REQUIRING STATE FUNDING FOR TUITION WAIVERS.

Bill Text

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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5417
February Session, 2026

AN ACT ALLOWING CHILDREN OF VETERANS TO USE SUCH
VETERAN'S UNUSED TUITION WAIVERS AND REQUIRING STATE
FUNDING FOR TUITION WAIVERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 10a-77 of the 2026 supplement to the general 1
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2
(Effective July 1, 2026): 3
(a) Subject to the provisions of section 10a-26, the Board of Regents 4
for Higher Education shall fix fees for tuition at the Connecticut State 5
Community College and shall fix fees for such other purposes as the 6
board deems necessary at the college, and may make refunds to the 7
same. 8
(b) The Board of Regents for Higher Education shall establish and 9
administer a fund to be known as the Connecticut State Community 10
College Operating Fund. Appropriations from general revenues of the 11
state and, upon request by the board and with an annual review and 12
approval by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, the 13
amount of the appropriations for fringe benefits and workers' 14
compensation applicable to the Connecticut State Community College 15
pursuant to subsection (a) of section 4-73, shall be transferred from the 16
Comptroller, and all tuition revenue received by the Connecticut State 17

Substitute Bill No. 5417

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Community College in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) 18
of this section shall be deposited in said fund. Income from student fees 19
or related charges; the proceeds of auxiliary activities and business 20
enterprises, gifts and donations; federal funds and grants for purposes 21
other than research, and all receipts derived from the conduct by the 22
college of their education extension programs and summer school 23
sessions shall be credited to said fund but shall be allocated to the central 24
office and campus operating accounts which shall be established and 25
maintained for the central office and each campus of the Connecticut 26
State Community College. If the Secretary of the Office of Policy and 27
Management disapproves such transfer, the secretary may require the 28
amount of the appropriation for operating expenses to be used for 29
personal services and fringe benefits to be excluded from said fund. The 30
State Treasurer shall review and approve the transfer prior to such 31
request by the board. The board shall establish an equitable policy, in 32
accordance with section 10a-8, for allocation of appropriations from 33
general revenues of the state, fringe benefits transferred from the 34
Comptroller and tuition revenue deposited in the Connecticut State 35
Community College Operating Fund. At the beginning of each quarter 36
of the fiscal year, the board shall allocate and transfer, in accordance 37
with said policy, moneys for expenditure in such campus operating 38
accounts, exclusive of amounts retained for central office operations and 39
reasonable reserves for future distribution. All costs of waiving or 40
remitting tuition pursuant to subsection [(f)] (g) of this section shall be 41
charged to the Connecticut State Community College Operating Fund. 42
Repairs, alterations or additions to facilities supported by operating 43
funds and costing one million dollars or more shall require the approval 44
of the General Assembly, or when the General Assembly is not in 45
session, of the Finance Advisory Committee. Any balance of receipts 46
above expenditures shall remain in said fund, except such sums as may 47
be required for deposit into a debt service fund or the General Fund for 48
further payment by the Treasurer of debt service on general obligation 49
bonds of the state issued for purposes of the regional community-50
technical colleges, or after July 1, 2023, for the purposes of the 51
Connecticut State Community College. 52

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(c) Commencing December 1, 1984, and thereafter not later than sixty 53
days after the close of each quarter, the Board of Regents for Higher 54
Education shall submit to the joint standing committee of the General 55
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and 56
the budgets of state agencies, the Office of Higher Education and the 57
Office of Policy and Management a report on the actual expenditures of 58
the Connecticut State Community College Operating Fund. 59
(d) The Board of Regents for Higher Education shall waive the 60
payment of tuition at the Connecticut State Community College (1) for 61
any dependent child of a person whom the armed forces of the United 62
States has declared to be missing in action or to have been a prisoner of 63
war while serving in such armed forces after January 1, 1960, which 64
child has been accepted for admission to said college and is a resident 65
of the state at the time such child is accepted for admission to said 66
college, (2) s