GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	2 

SENATE BILL 1555
Second Edition Engrossed 6/8/94

Short Title:  Civ./Mil. Base In-State Tuition.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senator Perdue.
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Referred to:  Appropriations.
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May 25, 1994

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO GRANT THE DEPENDENT RELATIVES OF CERTAIN CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES OF THE MILITARY INVOLUNTARILY TRANSFERRED TO THIS STATE IN-STATE TUITION AT CONSTITUENT INSTITUTIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AND AT CAMPUSES OF THE NORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM.
Whereas, the approximately 1,200 civilian employees of the armed services who were employed at the Naval Aviation Depot at Pensacola but who will be transferred when that base closes to the Naval Aviation Base at Cherry Point or lose their jobs; and
	Whereas, these employees will be losing a great deal in the transfer as Florida has no state income tax, and as North Carolina's tax structure is more burdensome than that of Florida; and
Whereas, many of these employees will come to this State rather than lose their jobs with children ready to attend higher education, for whom the year to establish residency for tuition purposes would impose a real hardship, in addition to all the other hardships inherent in a transfer that is really an involuntary one; and
Whereas, these employees will be bringing a great deal of positive value to this State, their number being roughly equivalent to the number of employees generated by Mercedez-Benz; and
Whereas, the State has not been asked to make any concessions or provide any incentives for the Cherry Point expansion, and it is only equitable that the civilian employees who will be coming to this State, and any others who may come in like circumstances and who will make this expansion possible, be treated fairly by the State by its providing an accommodation for the employees and their children in the State's institutions of higher education; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  The catch-line of G.S. 116-143.3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 116-143.3. Tuition of personnel in the armed services; tuition of dependent relatives of certain civilian personnel serving the armed services."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 116-143.3 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"( c1)	Any dependent relative of any civilian employee employed by the Department of Defense who transfers to a military base in this State rather than lose employment due to the closing of military bases around the country shall be eligible to be charged the in-State tuition rate, if the dependent relative qualifies for admission as an out-of-State applicant to an institution of higher education as defined in G.S. 116-143.1(a)(3).  The dependent relative shall comply with the requirements of the Selective Service System, if applicable, in order to be accorded this benefit. In the event the employee removes the abode from North Carolina during an academic year, the dependent relative shall continue to be eligible for the in-State tuition rate during the remainder of that academic year."
Sec. 3. (a) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina the sum of three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) for the 1994-95 fiscal year to implement this act.
(b) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Community Colleges the sum of seventy-three thousand dollars ($73,000) for the 1994-95 fiscal year to implement this act.
Sec. 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1994, and applies to applications for enrollment made on or after this date.