Southwest Montana News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity held a hearing on Congressman Matt Rosendale’s (MT-02) bill, H.R. 3874, the Veterans Education Assistance Improvement Act.

Each year thousands of veterans take advantage of the GI Bill and continue their education after serving our country. Under current law, veterans are required to take a full course load to receive their Military Housing Allowance, regardless of how many classes are needed to graduate – placing an unnecessary burden on veterans pursuing their education. The Veterans Education Assistance Improvement Act would reform this outdated regulation by allowing students in their final semester of school to take only the number of courses needed to graduate while still receiving funding for their housing.

“We owe it to our veterans to have an education system that is easy to use, understand, and that works for them,” Rep. Rosendale said. “The Veterans Education Assistance Improvement Act cuts red tape and moves our country closer towards showing veterans the compassion and respect they deserve.”  

The Veterans Education Assistance Improvement Act would also:

• Require the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to notify Congress, educational institutions, and students of any rule changes not subject to CRA that would impact them 180 days before the rule takes effect. Existing law allows the VA to change rules with short notice, creating confusion for students and hampering Congress’ ability to review and respond to such changes.
• Allow institutions additional time to respond to inquiries into abuses of the GI Bill system by increasing the deadline from 1 day to 2 days.
• Allow Section 1015 waivers to be offered for more than one year. This will benefit religious institutions and other schools not formally eligible for the GI Bill.

Watch Congressman Rosendale's subcommittee remarks here.

Original source can be found here.