Competing GI Bill Legislation
Submitted by Steve on 1 June 2008 - 11:20am.
There is a lot of confusion about the competing GI Bill Legislation, so here is how the different GI Bills would benefit veterans differently, depending on the veteran’s status:
S 22 and HR 5740 GI Bills: If you served at least 3 months since 9/11, these matching bills will give you about $2700 per month for tuition and living expenses (maybe more to pay the full tuition of some state schools), will pay extra for your books, will extend the usability period to 15 years after discharge, and will eliminate the requirement to pay the $1200 enrollment fee. However, they don't appear to change anything for those veterans who did not serve in the post 9/11 era military. These bills have already passed in the House and Senate and are waiting to be sent to Pres. Bush. Obama supports these bills, but Pres. Bush has promised to veto them.
S 2938 and HR 5944 GI Bills: If you are not a post 9/11 veteran, these matching bills will benefit you the most. These bills will give all eligible veterans about $1500 per month, and if you served for 12 years in the military, phase in higher payments up to $2000 per month (by 2011). They will also let you transfer your GI Bill to family members. (Problems with family transfer: It has been reported that that the family transfer plan will be funded and run by the services, who will NOT be required to fund them; if you have kids, you will feel like a “bad parent” if you use the GI Bill yourself instead of giving it to your kids; it’s always possible a liberal judge could cause you to lose your GI Bill in a divorce). These bills have not passed in the House or Senate. McCain supports these bills, and so does Pres. Bush.
HR 5684: This is the weakest GI Bill, it will raise the monthly payment to $1450 for all eligible veterans, and extend the usability period to 15 years after discharge. This bill has not passed in the House, and does not yet have a companion bill in the Senate.
That is my basic understanding of the current versions of the 3 GI Bills that are currently in legislation. Obviously, they all beat the $1100 a month payment that the current GI Bill gives veterans now.