Congress this month refined and expanded the Post-9/11 GI Bill
in ways that should benefit more Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans
and, at the same time, deliver a boost to the national economy. In
a press release hailing the changes in the 2009 GI Bill, Sen. Patty
Murray, D-Wash., explained: “This new package makes it easier for
some veterans to use their benefits to pay for tuition at public
and private universities, and others who want to enroll in training
programs that will place them directly in the workforce, helping us
get our economy back on track.”
Indeed, the legislation now awaiting President Obama’s signature
can be expected to greatly ease the transition from the military to
the civilian workforce for any number of veterans and their
families. The expanded Post-9/11 program will allow members of the
National Guard who were excluded from the 2009 GI Bill to qualify
for benefits, allow the use of those benefits for vocational and
on-the-job training, and increase tuition assistance, the book
stipend and living allowance. The changes also are expected to
speed the distribution of benefits by simplifying the way they are
calculated.
The number of veterans newly eligible for benefits under this
expansion is significant. Some 300,000 veterans and their family
members have used 2009 law’s benefits to date, according to Stars
and Stripes, the U.S. armed forces independent news service. The
expanded GI Bill will allow another 90,000 members of the National
Guard who were previously excluded to use the benefits.
There’s good reason to believe that this expanded program will give
the economy a boost. The original GI Bill, written into law in
1944, greatly expanded the American middle class following World
War II. It helped produce tens of thousands of engineers,
scientists and teachers. The GI Bill was brought back in various
forms at the end of the Korean war and early during the Vietnam
war. But until the enactment of this Post-9/11 GI Bill last year,
the benefits hadn’t approached the levels of the World War II GI
Bill.
The 2009 GI Bill essentially promised veterans a full-ride,
covering tuitions and fees at any state-funded college of
university. It also offered a monthly housing stipend and up to
$1,000 a year for books and school supplies. A one-time relocation
allowance was made available for veterans who had to move to be
near their campus, and there was the option of transferring the
educational benefits to family members.
Last year’s Post-9/11 GI Bill offered a generous benefit for
returning veterans, more generous than any that had been offered
since the World War II GI Bill. The changes approved this month
improve on that program, while extending benefits to deserving
veterans who were previously excluded.
This expanded GI Bill amounts to an investment in human capital
that should pay off handsomely for a generation or more to come. It
also can be viewed as a small, but meaningful, way to recognize the
many sacrifices of our men and women in uniform and their
families.
– Longview Daily News
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