The Veterans Alliance Campaign for AB 649/1093

Dear California Assemblymember,

The Veterans Alliance Campaign for AB 649/1093 would like for you to please support a pair of pending bills: AB 649 and AB 1093. These bills ensure that all California public colleges and universities will be uniformly equipped to serve all veterans, especially veterans seeking higher education under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. With the previous and proposed cuts to California public higher education military and veteran students face greater obstacles in transitioning to college life during and after military service. These two bills will simultaneously mitigate the impact of cuts on a group that is in DIRE need of a civilian education to be competitive in today's economic climate. Many California vets will begin seeking their education at two-year community colleges and transfer to public 4-year universities such as UCLA or a CSU-Long Beach. AB 1093 will ensure that every CSU and Community College in California will have adequate veterans' staff and facilities while recommended that the UC institutions do the same. Additionally, AB 649 will ensure that veterans have priority registration to ensure that we will be able to enroll in the units and courses required to access GI Bill education benefits. These benefits represent often the sole or primary source of income for student veterans. We would like to remind you that both these types of benefits - priority registration and dedicated support staff and centers - are available to student-athletes throughout our public colleges and universities. California's commitment to student veterans, aside from being socially just, is also fiscally responsible: Federal veterans spending - on both education and healthcare - will likely increase in the near future, and much of that money could likely find its way into the hands of a veteran-friendly public higher education system. So everybody wins. If you have any questions about how the Post-9/11 GI Bill works or about the needs of our student veterans, please don't hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your attention.