SECTION 1. Section 10 of chapter 15A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “meanings,” in line 2, the following definition:-

“Combat Veteran”, a veteran whose service includes: 1) receipt of an expeditionary medal or other department of defense authorized combat-related medal; 2) service in a location designated by an executive order as a combat zone; 3) service in a qualified hazardous duty area as defined by federal statute that deems such service by a member of the armed forces to be the equivalent of service in a combat zone for pay or a tax-related purpose; 4) receipt of department of defense hostile fire or imminent danger pay for serving in the area subject to hostilities; or 5) other factor as may be defined in policy and regulation by the secretary of veterans affairs.

SECTION 2. Section 19 of said chapter 15A of the General Laws, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “members,” in line 17, the following paragraph:-

Such guidelines shall provide tuition and fee waivers for combat veterans and the children of combat veterans who were killed during service. The commonwealth, not the institutions of public higher education, shall bear the cost of such tuition and fee waivers for combat members and the children of combat members who were killed while serving in the military.