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WEBB'S NEW G.I. BILL GAINS MOMENTUM AS McCAIN'S
OFFERING FINDS LIMITED SUPPORT -- Webb
spokeswoman:
"We still think our bill is the gold standard and
should go forward
with the highest possible number of benefits
possible."
For more about the G.I. Bill and the New G.I.
Bill, use the VA watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=g.i.+bill&op=ph
We have two news stories.
First story here...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2
008/05/01/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4063340.shtml
Story below:
-------------------------
Warner Predicts A New GI Bill Will Pass
By Jen DiMascio
(The Politico) Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), an early supporter of Sen. Jim
Webb's (D-Va.) GI Bill, said he's "quite certain" this Congress will pass
the educational benefits bill for veterans, but suggested some changes lie
ahead.
Webb's bill is one of many improving access to education for members of
the military. It has racked up more support than others and goes beyond
most others in its scope of benefits and would offer students enough money
to attend the most expensive public university in their state.
The administration, though, opposes it, saying it would encourage members
of the all-volunteer service to leave. Sen. John McCain of Arizona and two
other Republican senators have offered a competing proposal that addresses
the administration's concerns.
Warner, who attended college on GI Bill benefits, hinted that a compromise
between the two measures might be in the offing.
"There's a possibility that we might make some changes in the Webb bill --
it's up to him -- to make some changes reflecting what I believe are some
important points raised by other senators," said Warner, who's retiring at
the end of this term in January.
He declined to go into specifics, saying that the decisions were up to
Webb.
Responding, Webb spokeswoman Kimberly Hunter said, "We still think our
bill is the gold standard and should go forward with the highest possible
number of benefits possible."
So stay tuned.
Second story here...
http://www.stripes
.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54499
Story below:
-------------------------
In battle over GI Bills, Webb still holds high
ground
By Tom Philpott
Special to Stars and Stripes
In perhaps any other year, the new Republican plan for enhancing the
Montgomery GI Bill, which Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) introduced this week
with Sens. Richard Burr (N.C.) and John McCain (Ariz.), would win high
praise from advocates for service members and veterans.
But as momentum builds on Capitol Hill to pass S. 22, Sen. Jim Webb’s
hefty new GI Bill to replace MGIB for any service member – active, Guard
or Reserve – with qualifying active duty service since the attacks of
9-11, the Republican plan still might be a few critical features short of
an acceptable replacement for S 22 among leaders of GI Bill reform.
Graham’s bill, the Enhancement of Recruitment, Retention and Readjustment
through Education Act (S 2938), is cleverly crafted and will seem generous
in comparison to a more basic MGIB reform bill, HR 5684, which the House
Veterans Affairs Committee endorsed April 29th.
Graham’s bill would raise fulltime MGIB benefits to $1500 a month, up from
$1101, for all users. That would include veterans and retirees who left
service long before the attacks of 9-11.
It also would offer new enticements – including eligibility to transfer
benefits to spouse or children -- for current members who meet new MGIB-enhancement
thresholds at six and 12 years of service. After six years, members could
transfer half of any unused MGIB benefits to family members. After 12
years’ service, the monthly benefit would pop up to $2000 a month, and
members could transfer 100 percent of any unused portion to spouses or
children.
Other attracted features of S 2938 include an extra $500 a year for books
and a fresh chance to buy into the MGIB for roughly 5000 members still on
active duty who first entered service when the only education benefit
offered was the anemic Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP).
Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized Webb’s bill as a detriment to
service retention efforts in an April 29 letter to the Senate Armed
Services Committee. Gates also endorsed key features of the Graham bill
without citing the bill by name or number. Clearly the Bush administration
hopes that Graham and colleagues have put enough alluring features in S
2938 to draw bipartisan support away Webb’s bill. S 22 already has 58
co-sponsors in the Senate and 250 House members back a companion bill, HR
5740.
Service associations and veterans groups still are signaling a preference
for Webb’s bill, citing its more generous benefits, enough to cover
tuition and fees for the most expensive public college in any state, plus
a monthly stipend based on local rental costs. Webb’s bill would allow
Reserve and Guard members who mobilized multiple times to earn the same GI
Bill benefits as active duty peers. Finally, the Webb plan is designed so
that benefits automatically keep pace with the cost of public college
education.
But Graham, in a phone interview, characterized Webb’s bill as
“unworkable.” He said it would cost the VA about $250 million a year just
to administer and that the plan lacks a transferability option to help
families of careerists met their education goals.
“What I like about our approach is it takes an existing program that works
well and adds benefits,’’ Graham said. Webb’s idea to ensure that benefits
cover the cost of the most expensive public college or university in any
state “creates disparity between the states in an unfair way,” Graham
said. “In Michigan, I’ve been told, it’s like $13,000. In North Carolina,
because they subsidize public education, it’s like $6000. That makes no
sense to me.”
Graham’s bill would raise the fulltime MGIB benefit to $1500, which is
about the national average cost of a public college. That amount would be
adjusted annually using the government’s Consumer Price Index.
“The biggest difference, however, between our bill and the Webb bill is
transferability,” Graham said, and this feature is designed to improve
retention. He said Webb’s bill has no incentive to keep members in
service.
“I think it is incumbent upon us to try not only to recruit but to retain
this wonderful force we have,” Graham said.
Because careerists many can and do earn an in-service degree using tuition
assistance programs, a transferability option is sure to become a popular
feature for saving education costs for children or to help spouses launch
their own careers, Graham said.
But his transferability option is more tentative than it appears, said one
GI Bill reformer who has studied Graham’s bill. It would be left to the
services, not the Department of Veterans Affairs, to fund that portion of
the Graham plan. So a service branch might choose, from year to year, to
fund other retention incentives, such as reenlistment bonuses, if they are
viewed as more effective for keeping critical skills than family GI Bill
benefits.
Retired Army Col. Bob Norton, an education benefits expert with the
Military Officers Association of America, said Graham’s bill does have
some terrific features. But Norton said only the Webb bill delivers on
both goals set for GI Bill reform by The Military Coalition, a consortium
of service associations and veterans groups. First, it would raise
benefits enough to cover at least the average cost of a public college
education and has an effective mechanism to keep them there.
Second, it would allow Reserve and Guard members to earn the same GI Bill
entitlement as active duty troops, depending on length of active duty
service. The Graham/Burr/McCain bill has no such provision, Norton said.
Joe Barnes with the Fleet Reserve Association said his organization
supports any legislation that will enhance education benefits but
appreciates that Graham’s bill would help at least some VEAP-era members.
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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