Montgomery County lawmakers voted Monday to bring back funding for a tuition reimbursement program that was suspended in 2009, after county employees were discovered abusing it, costing the county hundreds of thousands of dollars. The County Council tentatively approved $300,000 for nonpublic safety employees in the fiscal 2013 budget, on top of the $135,000 already in the fiscal 2013 budget for tuition assistance for the police department.

Before the program was suspended, The Washington Examiner discovered employees taking hot yoga classes, spending $1,000 on sailing lessons and learning Spanish in Costa Rica, while the county footed the bill. Some county police officers were caught buying Glocks and other guns at steep discounts through the program.