Military families furious after Senate does nothing to address Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Military families were upset after the Virginia Senate gaveled in for hours on Tuesday to address changes recently made to the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program (VMDSEP) , but instead did nothing.

“I’m livid. It’s ridiculous,” A military spouse from Virginia Beach, Suzanne Wheatley, told 8News.

The Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee started its meeting an hour and a half late , as the committee’s Democratic chair proceeded to tell the public that they would not take up any bills.

“We wasted a bunch of taxpayer money coming down here with our thumbs up our butt getting nothing done,” Sen. Bryce Reeves, (R-Orange), said.

Despite support from Republicans and even some of her own party, Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee Chair Louise Lucas decided there would be no debate on repealing language making the program — which waives college tuition for the kids and spouses of qualified disabled military veterans — harder for families to access.

“I took a day out of my life,” Wheatley said. “I took a day out of my child’s life to be here, as did many of our friends, as did a lot of our supporters, and to be shuttled back and forth and ‘oh, it’s not going to be heard,’ it’s ridiculous.”

Lucas told reporters the bills didn’t get heard because there was still more work to be done on them, even though a bipartisan majority of senators supported fully repealing the recent changes.

8News Capitol Bureau Reporter Tyler Englander asked Lucas, “What’s the message to the families here today who don’t feel like they got a fair hearing?”

“We want to make sure that they do get a hearing,” Lucas responded. “We want them to know that we have been listening to them all the time. I want to make sure that they understand that we are going to work as hard as we can to make sure the program is sustainable and they are grandfathered.”

Instead of making changes, Lucas formed a work group to study the program. However, military families said Lucas’s actions speak louder than her words.

“What does it mean when you say, ‘We will take you standing up for us. We will take you putting your lives on the line. We will break your bodies. We will harm your families and we will take all your sacrifices, but when it comes to [standing] up for you, we won’t do it?’” said another Virginia Beach military spouse Antoinette Croly.

The House of Delegates is set to return to Richmond on June 28 where it is expected that they will vote to repeal the recent changes to the program.

Any bill passed would then have to go back to the Senate, where it could face the same hurdles a full repeal faced on Tuesday.

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