GI Bill compromise could be approved today - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

GI Bill compromise could be approved today

A GI Bill compromise that includes better education benefits and the opportunity for career service members to transfer those benefits to their family members has been agreed to by the White House and congressional negotiators for inclusion in the 2008 emergency war funding bill.

The House of Representatives could approve the measure as early as today.

The GI Bill deal melds the 21st Century GI Bill of Rights with a Pentagon alternative to create an improved benefits plan that covers full tuition and fees for someone attending a four-year public college or university, a monthly living allowance and an annual book allowance. It also allows those who serve six years or longer to share their GI Bill benefits with spouses or children.

Full details of the benefits plan were not released Wednesday night when House Democratic leaders announced the deal.

As outlined, the agreement represents a compromise for many of the key players in the two-year debate over improving GI Bill benefits.

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., the chief sponsor of the 21st Century GI Bill of Rights, opposed giving service members the right to transfer benefits to their family members. The Pentagon opposed GI Bill payments above roughly $1,900 a month, arguing that too-generous benefits would spur people to leave the military.

While benefits would vary from state to state, average payments under the new agreement would be about $3,000 a month, with about $1,500 for tuition and fees and about $1,450 for living expenses, plus the annual book allowance.

Also compromising on the deal are fiscally conservative Democrats, known as Blue Dog Democrats, who had demanded that the plan also include a way to pay for the improved benefits.

With the addition of transfer rights, the cost of the 21st Century GI Bill rises to about $62 billion over 10 years, but the agreement mentions no specific way to cover the cost. Instead, GI Bill benefits, like the cost of the war, are considered emergency spending that does not count against any budgetary limits.

The war supplemental funding bill includes about $165 million for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, enough to cover costs through about June 2009, depending on the pace of operations, the rotation schedule and the number of troops deployed at any one time.

Defense and service officials have been warning lawmakers for months that they are on the brink of running out of money, leading the key congressional committees responsible for approving the military budget to permit shifting money between accounts to temporarily have essential costs covered.