SIOUX CITY SOLDIERS COLLEGE CUTS

State lawmakers are fast-tracking extra money to cover tuition costs for Iowa National Guard soldiers in Sioux City, who've been awarded college tuition assistance from the state.

The Iowa Guard cut its "Education Assistance Program" grants by 13-hundred dollars for this spring semester.

Representative Royd Chambers of Sheldon is a first sergeant in the Iowa Air Guard and he's well aware of the problem.

Legislators are tentatively setting aside one-point-three million dollars to provide the full tuition grant.

Senator Daryl Beall of Fort Dodge says this tuition assistance helps the Iowa Guard retain its soldiers at a higher rate than many other state units.

Beall is chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. Chambers is the chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee in the Iowa House