Booker Introduces Legislation to Increase GI Bill Assistance to Veterans

VET Extension Act will strengthen GI Bill, ensure veterans receive deserved benefits

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) re-introduced the Veteran Education and Transfer (or “VET”) Extension Act, which will increase the months of assistance veterans can receive from the Post-9/11 GI Bill and allow veterans to transfer those benefits to a dependent after leaving active service. The gaps in education benefits that the bill is designed to address were brought to Booker’s attention during a roundtable discussion he hosted with student veterans at Rutgers University in 2017.

Congressman Steven Horsford (D-NV) introduced legislation in the House in November.

“While the GI bill is one of the boldest and most consequential pieces of legislation to support veterans, many student veterans today exhaust their limited benefits before they can reasonably complete a degree, and face red tape when they try to transfer their hard-earned benefits to their children after they separate from the military,” Booker said. “This bill will make much-needed updates to the GI Bill to close these loopholes to bring the GI bill more in-line with what its original architects intended. Our nation’s veterans risked their lives to defend our freedoms — it’s our responsibility to ensure they receive the benefits they’ve earned when they return home.”

Currently, there are roughly 7,500 veterans in New Jersey who utilize Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. Nationally the number is nearly 100,000. This bill would ensure these veterans are not deprived of the assistance they need or the ability to transfer their benefits to members of their families.

The VET Extension Act addresses these issues by:

• Extending Eligibility to Cover Remedial Courses: The legislation would increase the months of assistance available to qualifying veterans by up to 15 months, or in the case of an individual who has already completed remedial courses, the full-time equivalent number of months of educational assistance that they used to complete such courses.
• Expanding Ability to Transfer Benefits to Dependents: The legislation would allow veterans who did not have dependents at the end of their service to later transfer the education benefits should they come to have an eligible dependent.

Background on Booker’s work in the Senate to support service members and veterans:

Booker has been steadfast in his commitment to supporting New Jersey’s service-members, veterans, and their families. When he was first elected to the U.S. Senate, his very first meeting was with New Jersey veterans. In October, he led members of New Jersey’s delegation in urging the Air Force to approve the construction of an overpass over County Road 539, which splits Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL) and puts at risk the safety and welfare of military personnel in New Jersey. And last summer, he authored a bipartisan bill to expand eligibility for all military spouses in a workforce development program and a bipartisan, bicameral resolution to recognize the unique achievements and contributions of female veterans.

Booker has also been an outspoken advocate for legislation to extend coverage to 200,000 previously uncovered Vietnam Navy Veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange. A bill he cosponsored to extend this coverage was signed into law last year.

Booker was also instrumental, along with other members of the New Jersey delegation, in helping bring a Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) to Sussex County in 2017, after hearing from veterans living in Sussex, Warren, and Western Morris counties who had to travel to out-of-state VA facilities to get quality care.

In 2014, Booker’s bipartisan bill to guarantee continued rehabilitative services for veterans with traumatic brain injuries was signed into law as part of a comprehensive VA accountability bill, the Veterans Choice Act.