Delaware House Bill 160
Session 153
An Act To Amend Title 14 Of The Delaware Code Related To Delaware National Guard Education Benefits.
Became Law
Signed by Governor on Jul 23, 2025
Sponsors
18 Sponsors
First Action
May 13, 2025
Latest Action
Jul 23, 2025
Origin Chamber
House
Type
Bill
Bill Number
160
State
Delaware
Session
153
Sarah McBride
grade
Primary
checkPassed on June 17, 2025
Motion Text
2/3
House Roll Call Votes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Other
Yes
Summary
The Delaware National Guard provides financial assistance to eligible service members for certain postsecondary education tuition and fees. Under the current education benefits program, the Delaware National Guard reimburses service members for tuition and fees the service members have already paid. But young service members often cannot take advantage of this program because they cannot afford to pay upfront for tuition and fees. This also hurts Delaware National Guard recruiting efforts because potential service members may choose to join National Guard programs in other states that do not require service members to pay upfront for tuition and fees. Keeping the Delaware National Guard fully staffed is essential to responding to state emergencies. Lack of staff also leads the Department of Defense to shift positions from the Delaware National Guard to other states that can recruit at higher levels than Delaware. This results in reduced mission capability in Delaware and less federal funding coming to Delaware.
This Act amends the existing code relating to Delaware National Guard education benefits by switching from a system that reimburses service members to a system that pays certain tuition and fees, on behalf of a service member, directly to a Delaware postsecondary institution. This change allows more service members to use education benefits, which will improve Delaware National Guard recruiting and retention, and enhance the professional education qualifications of its members.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and clarifies that the tuition assistance provided for Delaware private postsecondary institutions is based on the average tuition for state-supported postsecondary institutions.
This Act is effective immediately and is implemented on July 1, 2026, to allow updates to rules, regulations, and forms for the Delaware National Guard tuition assistance program.
Sort by most recent
07/23/2025
Office of the Governor
Signed by Governor
06/30/2025
Senate
Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES
06/25/2025
Senate
Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 6 On Its Merits
06/17/2025
Senate
Assigned to Education Committee in Senate
06/17/2025
House
Passed By House. Votes: 40 YES 1 ABSENT
05/21/2025
House
Reported Out of Committee (Education) in House with 1 Favorable, 8 On Its Merits
05/13/2025
House
Introduced and Assigned to Education Committee in House
Sources
Open States
Record Created
May 13, 2025 6:11:48 PM
Record Updated
Aug 26, 2026 7:20:04 AM