Aumua Introduces Bill to Enhance Veterans Education Benefits
Washington, D.C. –Tuesday, Congresswoman Aumua Amata, introduced the Veterans Education Enhancement Act of 2016 (H.R. 5174) this morning. The bill aims to make several modifications to the G.I. Bill, to improve the benefit for our veterans, service members, and their dependents.
Congresswoman Aumua Amata outside the Republican Cloakroom in the U.S. Capitol Building
“Our military personnel, veterans, and their families deserve the very best when it comes to the benefits they have rightfully earned. That includes not being overcharged for tests, and access to highly trained personnel when filing for their education benefits,” stated Amata.
H.R. 5174 institutes several modifications to the G.I. Bill including, changing entitlement charges on licensing and certification tests, as well as national tests, so that a veteran’s G.I. Bill eligibility is only charged at a pro-rated amount, instead of one month’s entitlement as is under current law. This provision will allow students to pay for the tests, while minimizing the impact to their G.I. Bill entitlement. Currently, the entitlement is charged one month for every $1,759.08 paid to the student, which means students who take these tests are being charged an entire month’s entitlement…even for low-cost tests that fall far below that amount. This has caused unnecessary financial distress on those veterans, service members, and their families who utilize their G.I. Bill entitlement. H.R. 5174 would rectify this issue.
The bill will also require the VA, in consultation with School Certifying Officials (SCOs), to create a training program for SCOs regarding G.I. Bill processing. If an SCO does not receive this training in a reasonable amount of time, the VA may withdraw the school’s approval for G.I. Bill benefits. SCO’s have reported to the committee that including this provision will help persuade schools to issue the training, which will in-turn help student veterans better utilize their entitlement, and ensure taxpayer dollars are better spent.
The Veterans Education Enhancement Act also requires that no reporting fees paid to schools from the VA shall be used for the school’s general fund. This provision ensures that the reporting fees will be used for their intent – training for the SCO’s.
Finally, the H.R. 5174 will also extend the authorization of the VA Advisory Committee on Education until December 31, 2021, as it is set to expire at the end of this year. The purpose of the committee is to provide advice to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, on the administration of education and training programs for veterans, service members, reservists, and their dependents.
“I want to thank the Veterans Support Organizations (VSO’s) and Chairman of the House Veteran Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, Brad Wenstrup, for their support on this measure that will significantly enhance the opportunities to higher education for our veterans, service members, and their families,” stated Amata. “We must continue to do all we can to ensure that they are being given every opportunity to succeed that is available to them, and this bill will assist in that effort,” concluded Amata.
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