The Arizona Students’ Association hosted their 34th annual Lobby Day at the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday and asked legislators to prioritize higher education during the legislative session.

ASA attendees focused on pushing House Bill 2410, a bill requesting that honorably discharged veterans be allowed to pay in-state tuition to attend a state university.

The bill passed in committee and will be heard by the full Arizona House of Representatives some time in the coming week before moving on to the Senate, according to Elma Delic, the ASA board chair.

Delic said ASA wanted to make the legislators know the bill was one of their biggest priorities.

ASA members also shared personal stories with legislators to give them a more intimate perspective into the importance of higher education.

“”Students have a lot of power at the capitol because a lot of them are constituents of these representatives, so they love hearing personal stories from students,”” Delic said.

Simone Malkovich, an ASA intern and sophomore majoring in political science and molecular and cellular biology, was one of the many students who shared their stories.

Malkovich said she talked to Rep. Macario Saldate about how much the state of Arizona budget has affected her.

She described the rising cost of higher education as “”ridiculous,”” and explained that her scholarship was a “”full ride”” at the beginning of her college career, and by the time she graduates she will have to take out a student loan to cover student costs.

Malkovich said because Saldate was a UA professor, he was “”really warm and welcoming”” and truly enjoyed hearing student stories.

She also said she will definitely be attending Lobby Day next year.

More than 100 students attended, and they had about 60 meetings with legislators, including Sen. Steve Pierce and Rep. Steve Court, the chair of the higher education committee in the House.

“”Students did a really amazing job and got a lot from meeting with the representatives,”” Delic said.