LegiStorm

Summary:

The GI Bills® provide financial assistance to individuals, whose eligibility is based on experience in the uniformed services, while they are enrolled in approved programs of education, including training programs. In FY2017, the GI Bills are estimated to provide over $14 billion in benefits to over 1 million veterans and servicemembers and their dependents. The largest program, the Post- 9/11 GI Bill, is estimated to account for approximately 93% of the benefits and 80% of the participants. This report provides a description of and background for selected provisions in bills that did and would amend the GI Bills and have been reported by a committee of the 114th Congress as of July 2016. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (P.L. 114-92) was enacted on November 25, 2015. The bill effectively ends the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) on November 25, 2019. It also prohibits nonexempt individuals from receiving a Post- 9/11 GI Bill allowance while receiving Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers (UCX). The Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act of 2016 (P.L. 114-228) was enacted on September 29, 2016. Among other purposes, the law authorizes the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to treat a program of education as approved for 18 months in the event that the Secretary of Education withdraws the recognition of the accrediting agency that accredited the educational institution at which the program of education was offered. This authority applies to those programs of education that were approved for GI Bill purposes on the basis of being offered directly by an educational institution that is accredited by an ED-recognized accrediting agency. The authority was intended to protect GI Bill participants attending approximately 900 educational institutions accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). As of the publication date, ACICS recognition is under review. The Veterans Employment, Education, and Healthcare Improvement Act (H.R. 3016) passed the House on February 9, 2016. The bill would include a controversial amendment reducing by half the Post-9/11 GI Bill housing allowance and books and supplies stipend for some children using transferred benefits. The bill would also reduce the maximum tuition and fees benefit for individuals pursuing flight training at or through a public institution of higher learning (IHL) to the same maximum benefit level at a private or foreign IHL. In juxtaposition to these reductions, the bill would expand benefits for individuals in the Post-9/11 GI Bill Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship program and expand eligibility for the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The bill would also authorize funding to more fully automate the Post-9/11 GI Bill claims processes, and it would amend the process and criteria by which programs of education gain and maintain approval for GI Bill purposes in an effort to increase the quality of such programs. The Veterans First Act (S. 2921) was reported by the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on May 11, 2016. The bill includes several provisions that are equivalent or similar to provisions in H.R. 3016 and H.R. 2360 but not the same provisions to reduce benefit levels. The bill would also allow eligible Post-9/11 GI Bill students who attend schools that permanently close to recover their entitlement for future use; allow Montgomery GI Bill-Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR) participants to extend their entitlement when called to active duty under specified orders; and allow eligible Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) participants to retain their entitlement by electing the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Finally, the bill includes a savings provision that would reduce the annual increase in the Post-9/11 GI Bill housing allowance. The Career-Ready Student Veterans Act (H.R. 2360) was agreed to in the House on February 9, 2016. The bill is intended to ensure that GI Bill approved programs of education meet the standards required for state licensure, certification, or employment. Some GI Bill participants have indicated that they felt as though they wasted their benefits on programs of education that did not allow them to become employed in the occupation in which they were educated. This bill attempts to address this concern. The 21st Century Veterans Benefits Delivery and Other Improvements Act (S. 1203) was agreed to in the Senate on November 10, 2015. Among other provisions, the bill would require educational institutions to report the academic progress of Post-9/11 GI Bill participants. The provision is intended to make data available on the outcomes and return on investment of the Post-9/11 GI Bill.