A new state law will make a difference in accessing education for the dependents of disabled veterans in California, thanks to the initiative of UC Merced Interdisciplinary Humanities graduate student Karla Seijas.
Seijas proposed the idea for a bill that would expand the CalVet College Fee Waiver for Veteran Dependents Program to increase eligibility for children of service-connected disabled veterans — known as Assembly Bill 1745.
AB 1745 raises the income cap definition from the federal poverty level to the California poverty level. This allows disabled veterans’ dependents the ability to earn money from a part-time job of 20 hours per week while furthering their educations using the tuition waiver benefit.
Seijas’ spouse is a service-connected disabled combat veteran, so she knows the unique challenges veterans and military families face, and that has fueled her passion to create policy solutions to improve others’ lives.
“As a military dependent, I’ve endured obstacles in trying to further my education due to our frequent moves,” she said. “Each move meant a stop in my career progression and education while I followed my active-duty-service-member spouse as he progressed in his career.”
