thedrifter
01-10-07, 08:23 AM
January 09, 2007
Act would let family members use GI Bill
Higher annual increases also proposed
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, has reintroduced a proposal that would allow service members to transfer GI Bill education benefits to family members.
Transfer rights for GI Bill benefits have been used only on a small scale as a re-enlistment alternative.
While many Democrats have talked about improving the GI Bill, Bartlett is one of the few Republicans pushing for increases in education benefits.
His proposal, which he calls the Bartlett Montgomery GI Bill Act, would allow service members to transfer any unused portion of their education benefits to their spouse or dependent children. Those who transfer benefits would get five additional years in which the benefits could be used.
Under current law, benefits for active-duty members must be used while on active duty or within 10 years of separation. After 10 years, unused benefits are forfeited. Under Bartlett’s bill, a spouse or dependents would have 15 years after the service member’s separation to use the benefits, although the 10-year limit would remain for the veteran.
“With military retention and morale at risk, we need to support our troops and service members with additional incentives to stay in the military,” Bartlett said in a statement.
He said his bill, HR 81, “will encourage service members to re-enlist, support military families and provide more realistic rates of educational costs for higher learning.”
In addition to the dependents benefits, Bartlett’s bill orders annual increases in GI Bill rates to keep pace with rising college costs, which would result in bigger increases than the adjustments to match inflation now made on Oct. 1 each year.
A fourth provision of the bill would allow National Guard and Reserve members to qualify for active-duty GI Bill benefits, which are considerably higher, after two cumulative years of active service in a five-year period.
Bartlett’s press secretary, Lisa Lyons Wright, said the Congressional Budget Office has been asked to put a price tag on the bill but has not completed the estimate.
The bill was referred to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which has primary responsibility over the active-duty GI Bill. The veterans’ and armed services committees are expected to work together this year on an overhaul of GI Bill benefits, providing an opportunity for Bartlett’s bill to be considered.
The bill is identical to a measure Bartlett introduced in July 2005, HR 3625, that never made it out of the veterans’ committee.
Ellie
Act would let family members use GI Bill
Higher annual increases also proposed
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, has reintroduced a proposal that would allow service members to transfer GI Bill education benefits to family members.
Transfer rights for GI Bill benefits have been used only on a small scale as a re-enlistment alternative.
While many Democrats have talked about improving the GI Bill, Bartlett is one of the few Republicans pushing for increases in education benefits.
His proposal, which he calls the Bartlett Montgomery GI Bill Act, would allow service members to transfer any unused portion of their education benefits to their spouse or dependent children. Those who transfer benefits would get five additional years in which the benefits could be used.
Under current law, benefits for active-duty members must be used while on active duty or within 10 years of separation. After 10 years, unused benefits are forfeited. Under Bartlett’s bill, a spouse or dependents would have 15 years after the service member’s separation to use the benefits, although the 10-year limit would remain for the veteran.
“With military retention and morale at risk, we need to support our troops and service members with additional incentives to stay in the military,” Bartlett said in a statement.
He said his bill, HR 81, “will encourage service members to re-enlist, support military families and provide more realistic rates of educational costs for higher learning.”
In addition to the dependents benefits, Bartlett’s bill orders annual increases in GI Bill rates to keep pace with rising college costs, which would result in bigger increases than the adjustments to match inflation now made on Oct. 1 each year.
A fourth provision of the bill would allow National Guard and Reserve members to qualify for active-duty GI Bill benefits, which are considerably higher, after two cumulative years of active service in a five-year period.
Bartlett’s press secretary, Lisa Lyons Wright, said the Congressional Budget Office has been asked to put a price tag on the bill but has not completed the estimate.
The bill was referred to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which has primary responsibility over the active-duty GI Bill. The veterans’ and armed services committees are expected to work together this year on an overhaul of GI Bill benefits, providing an opportunity for Bartlett’s bill to be considered.
The bill is identical to a measure Bartlett introduced in July 2005, HR 3625, that never made it out of the veterans’ committee.
Ellie