GI Bill is getting an upgrade and removing the 15 year “use it or lose it” rule by adding a “lifetime” rule. However concerns over lack of funding, staffing and IT support loom over the revamped bill – PB/TK
VA Official Worries Over Tech Requirements for GI Bill Expansion – By Amy Bushatz / July 18 2017
A top official with the Department of Veterans Affairs told lawmakers his main concern regarding a major post-9/11 GI Bill expansion package is that the agency will not have the technology to support the upgrades.
“Probably my biggest concern is two words: ‘IT,’ ” Curtis Coy, deputy under secretary for economic opportunity at the VA, told lawmakers. “Much or almost all of these sections require some changes in our IT system.”
Coy spoke on Capitol Hill on Monday at a late evening House Committee on Veterans Affairs hearing on a bipartisan package that would give the post-9/11 GI Bill a series of major upgrades.
Among the 28 changes included in the legislation is the removal for future troops of a 15-year use-it-or-lose-it rule, and a change that gives the full benefit to Guard and Reserve troops who are involuntarily activated.
It also includes a measure making Purple Heart recipients eligible for the education benefits no matter how long they served on active duty. That change could impact almost 700 troops a year, proponents said
Continue to military.com article: http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/07/18/va-official-worries-tech-requirements-gi-bill-expansion.html
