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Lawmakers praise Reserve GI Bill improvements

The two chief congressional advocates for improving Reserve GI Bill benefits declared a partial victory Wednesday for provisions included in a compromise defense policy bill.

Arkansas Democrats Sen. Blanche Lincoln and Rep. Vic Snyder, leading an effort to update National Guard and reserve benefits, said they were pleased the bill would allow drilling reservists who have been mobilized to use GI Bill benefits for up to 10 years after leaving the military.

That is a major change from current rules, which limit Guard and reserve members to using GI Bill benefits while in service, and forfeiting any unused benefits when they get out. Reservists mobilized in support of Iraq and Afghanistan operations, especially those who had to drop out of school for a deployment, had complained that the only way they could take advantage of their veterans’ education benefits upon their return was to stay in the reserves. If they decided to get out, they lost whatever they had left.

Retired Army Col. Robert Norton, deputy government relations director for the Military Officers Association of America, said that as many as 600,000 people could be helped by the change, including more than 91,000 currently mobilized members of the National Guard and reserve.

The defense bill, HR 1585, also includes a call for a joint study by the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs to determine who should be in charge of the Reserve GI Bill program. Currently, VA administers the benefits for that program, but the Defense Department pays for the benefits and sets policy. The active-duty GI Bill program is run entirely by VA.

The split jurisdiction over education benefits is one of the primary reasons that the value of reserve benefits have eroded over the years, said Snyder, a Vietnam veteran and member of the House Armed Services Committee. At Snyder’s urging, the House had included a provision in its version of the 2008 defense authorization bill transferring control of the Reserve GI Bill to the VA. The provision was watered down to a study after the Pentagon objected.

Waiting a year for a study of the merits and feasibility of transferring the Reserve GI Bill program delays efforts to increase monthly benefits for reservists, but Lincoln said she expects that pressure from Congress and veterans’ groups will keep the issue alive, providing another opportunity to push reserve benefits increases again next year.

Lincoln said the study is important because the Defense Department has not been interested in increasing education benefits for reservists — but also has resisted giving up control of the program.

The current maximum GI Bill payment for an active-duty member with at least three years of service is $1,101 a month, while the maximum payment for a Guard or reserve member is $317 a month.