"If the name Bill Hobbs is attached to it, you'd better check the facts." - Me.

So seems to be the case in the battle over who loves veterans more, the Democrats or the Republicans. This stems from the Veterans day announcement by the State House and Senate Democratic Caucuses, that they would be introducing legislation, Helping Heroes Act of 2008, to create a new grant for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan battles, to supplement their GI Bill. Bill Hobbs, who recently took a job as Communications Director for the TNGOP, was quick to respond that the Republicans offered a bill to do this earlier this year, and their bill was better.

Now, I realize I'm a little late to the game on this, but considering that the debate still rages on (at least in the comments over at VV), I figured I'd do the best I could in tackling the subject and trying figure out who is right and who is wrong.

Surprise! Hobbs is wrong...well, to a certain extent at least. Referencing his press release on the subject, lets take it one factual error at a time.

Democrats on Monday proposed giving veterans college scholarships of $1,000 per semester, funded by revenue from the state lottery. But veterans would be eligible for double that amount under a bill hat Republican lawmakers were pushing last spring.

First sentence, correct! Second one, not so much. For starters, the bill he is referencing was being pushed by Democratic and Republican lawmakers, unless of course Bill Hobbs is claiming Rob Briley, Gary Odom, or Janis Sontany are Republicans. Second, the bill in question made no reference to benefits for members of the military, or veterans.

“We are pleased that Democrats agree with us that Tennesseans who risk their lives in war in order to protect us should be eligible for lottery-funded college scholarships,” said Bill Hobbs, communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party. “We just happen to believe that veterans should be eligible for the full lottery scholarships, not just scholarships worth half as much, as the Democrats are now proposing.”

SURPRISE! They already were! Yes, according to 49-4-918 of the Tennessee Code, those who joined the military right out of High School were already eligible for the Hope Scholarship. So what is Hobbs talking about?

The Republican legislation would change the existing HOPE scholarship’s criteria for non-traditional students in ways that would make them available to Tennessee veterans.

Yes, non-traditional students...which some veterans would surely qualify as, but which are neither exclusive to, nor designed for, military veterans. Now, lets assume Hobbs was talking about the Senate version of the bill sponsored by Woodson, and we'll go ahead and assume he was referring to her third substitution amendment introduced on the matter. What defines a non-traditional student?

First, they need to be 25 years of age. In addition, "[a] nontraditional student shall be eligible for a Tennessee HOPE scholarship at the end of the semester in which the student has attempted a total of twelve (12) semester hours, if the student has a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.75."

So sure, there would be many non-traditional students, who are veterans, that would qualify for this specific scholarship. Now, what does the Democratic version do?

First, what it doesn't do. It doesn't require the veteran to be of a certain age; it doesn't require him or her to have gone to a Tennessee High School (a requirement for the traditional scholarship), and it doesn't require them to maintain a certain GPA. In essence, while the Hope Scholarships are essentially designed as rewards for "academic excellence" (debate amongst yourselves whether a 2.75 or 3.0 is excellent), this scholarship is designed solely as a reward for military service. Period. The requirements are fairly simple, in that the person must be a Tennessee resident for a year, and that they have been awarded the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, or on or after 9/11, the "Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal."

This is a supplemental grant, and is not effected by any other financial aid, or income level. It is a reward for military service, and designed to assist, not entirely pay for, a veteran's education. Besides simply being a gift to veterans, the benefit to the State is that you entice those who were stationed at Ft. Campbell to stay in Tennessee to get their education, and then there is a good chance they'll live and work here permanently.

Hobbs at best is misleading, and at worst is outright lying. He is assuming most people will not go through the Tennessee Code and through the pages of amended bills to get to the truth of the matter. So, I guess in that regard, I salute Bill Hobbs for doing his job well, even if he isn't doing a great service to the veterans of the GWOT, Iraq war, or Afghanistan war.