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September 19, 2005Veterans' benefits are dwindlingKids lose their tuition, others lose housingByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - When U.S. Army reservist Kelly Matthews was killed in the Persian Gulf War, the state of Michigan pledged to help pay college tuition for the four children he left behind. Now the state intends to renege on a program started in 1935 that provides an annual $2,800 college tuition grant to children of Michigan veterans killed in action or permanently disabled. "It's wrong. They guarantee you something, then they don't do it," said Kelly's father, Sid Matthews, of Buckley. "They don't give a damn for the people who are giving their lives for this country or their families." For almost 60 years, interest from the $50 million Veterans Trust Fund was used for emergency financial assistance for veterans. But in 1996 the Legislature shifted funding for tuition grants from the general fund to the veteran's trust fund. The added burden of the tuition grant program eroded the fund to about $46 million. The smaller balance produces less interest, and the board of trustees is forced to trim even more, said Edward Florence Jr., chairman of the trust fund board of trustees. "There's a good possibility the trust fund might not ever be able to come back and do what it is supposed to do: assist veterans who have a hard time with an emergency need," he said. The board last week voted unanimously to stop funding the tuition grant program in an attempt to force legislative leaders and the governor to fund the program, which costs about $1.5 million a year. Dwindling resources affect assorted veterans in different ways. Vietnam veteran Robert Cocking's frozen body was found in the woods off South Airport Road last winter, just two days after the Michigan Veteran's Trust Fund stopped paying for his room at the Whiting Hotel in downtown Traverse City. "He was one of ours," said Chuck Lerchen, director of Grand Traverse County's Department of Veteran's Affairs. "Had I more resources available to me I could have put him up until there was space at the homeless shelter." In 1999, Lerchen had $55,569 for emergency financial assistance for veterans in Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties. In 2005, it's $16,555. The Matthews family didn't know Cocking, but their lives are oddly intertwined through ongoing budget machinations in Lansing. Lerchen, president of the state association of veterans counselors, said in the last half-decade not one piece of legislation has benefited veterans. Instead, lawmakers slowly keep stripping assistance. "The (state) legislators do not have veterans on their priority list," Lerchen said. "It's like they could care less." Next month, Kelly Matthews' daughter Courtney, in her first year at Lake Superior State University, and approximately 410 other war orphans will receive a letter informing them they won't receive the tuition grant. "Her dad actually lost his life for this country, and then when you plan on that stuff coming through all of a sudden they take it away," said Lori Matthews, Courtney's mother. "I'm really hoping they don't do that because I don't know if we will be able to afford to have her go to college." The state House repeatedly passed legislation to fund the tuition grant program, but it always dies in the Senate, Lerchen said. Senate leader Ken Sikkema's office did not return a call seeking comment. A spokesman for Gov. Jennifer Granholm said she wanted the board to delay action but pledged to work with the legislature and the board to find a solution. "It's an important issue for the governor and we're putting together some ideas," spokesman Greg Bird said. Lori Matthews agrees the legislature should fund the tuition grants but she doesn't agree with the sudden cut-off of support from the board. "They will make these kids suffer in the mean time," she said. "I think these kids have suffered enough."
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