Education House of Reps Cut GI Bill Housing Stipend for Service Member's Children

OK Thank you AlwaysRt, I stand corrected. I was on active duty a long time before the 9/11 GI Bill came into effect so am not familiar with it.

 

This proposed change by Congress is to CUT by 50% the stipend rate of the Post 9/11 GI Bill to children who have been authorized to use this benefit by their Servicemember Mother or Father who will not/cannot use it.

As the Post 9/11 GI Bill stands today, IF a servicemeber who has eligibility to use this benefit cannot or will not be using this benefit, then the Servicemember has the option of passing this benefit to their current spouse and/or children.

This Servicemember option has to be exercised PRIOR to discharge.

Most Servicemembers who elect to pass this benefit down to their spouse and/or children are, for the most part, being discharged by their service branch under Permanent Disability Retirement (PDRL). In other words, the majority of Servicemembers who pass this EARNED benefit to their spouse and/or children are being parted from military service due to sustaining military, service-connected injuries greater than 30% and are "UNFIT" to continue military service. Their career is cut short of their 20-year career retirement due to their injuries received while in service to this nation.

Now most the those Servicemembers are in the lower paying Enlisted ranks as the majority of military injured are Enlisted - just as most of the military dead are of the Enlisted rank.

Regardless, they are parted out with a partial military retirement - not a full 20-year retirement - as they served less than 20 years when injuries occurred and when parted out on a military PDRL discharge.

Servicemembers who have sustained an injury that is rated by their branch of service beyond 40% have HUGH medical/psych issues that ARE barriers to entry into the civilian workforce. Many are unable to find/fit into a job that DOES pay a sustainable family wage. Many are housebound, confined to a lifetime of crutches/wheelchairs, TBI issues, incontinent of feces/urine, and on and on.

The injury and/or injuries that these Servicemembers have sustained on behalf of their great nation are life-long, permanent, and affect not only the Servicemember's everyday life/quality of life, but also impacts their spouse (if they're lucky to have one, or if the spouse doesn't divorce them over this), their parents (whose senior retirement lives are altered as well), and their child/children (their parent is no longer the parent they had).

So I believe it is imperative that these Servicemembers spouses and/or child/children remain able to retain FULL stipend as any other beneficiary.

There's nothing worse than kicking a Servicemember when he/she is down - and that's just what Congress is proposing to do to the families of these permanently and life-long injured Servicemembers.

This is nothing more than a bill from the "Love and Kisses" student loan Banksters who are wanting to widen their nets and line their pockets at the expense of the permanently injured Servicemember's family - the spouse and child/children.

Haven't these military members given enough of their life and lifetime?

Won't their families give enough over their lifetimes, too?

Oh yeah.

Don't forget....

"Thank-you for your service."

V/R,
nwlivewire

 

I think I understand your point, however I keep getting thrown off track because you are using a politician's mix of facts and leading comments - a combination you have commented on other threads you do not like.

What is being cut? "50% of the stipend rate..." sounds like the entire benefit is cut in half which is not true. Tuition remains unchanged, books and supplies remains unchanged, housing allowance 50% reduction. What does this mean? Tuition is still covered 100% up to $21,084/yr plus up to another $1,000/yr for books and supplies. The average monthly housing allowance will be reduced from $1,566 to $783.

Where does statement of fact this come from? Never heard that before. Excellent point that there may be partially disabled and unable to use the benefit effectively themselves.

Total politician bait and switch. Those veterans with disabilities to the point they are housebound etc or unemployable with a sustainable wage will be rated 100% T&P or 100% IU T&P and their families qualify for the Survivor's and Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) program which is not being cut.

Congress screws us over a million ways from Sunday so I think it is better to talk specifics instead of generalities.

 

I say again - there is a difference between 40% VA and 100% P&T and 100% IU.

That I do not like your comments or any other comments is WAY OFF for me.

I am simply pointing out some factual differences.

What's the big deal about that?

The branch of service determines fit or unfit and determines disability rating.

The VA has their rating system, too.

I am 100% VA P&T and 70% military. I spent the last four YEARS of my career in the Wounded Warrior Program.

I was initially offered 30% military and 100% VA. I had to fight tooth and toenail to get the Army to get it right.

I had to hire an attorney - Jason Perry - who is a former JAG officer and knows the Regs like the back of his hand.

It was my observation, based on the hundreds and hundreds of wounded warriors I was attached with (Fort Lewis 2007-2012), that those who pretty much knew they were not going to be earning a sustainable and gainful income in their futures - most of them that had a spouse and/or child or children passed their GI Bill benefits along to them. Can't cite you an official statistic, but I know as a Senior NCO what my Enlisted wounded warriors did when they had to.

And they had to elect this change PRIOR to discharge to PDRL.

Yes. I am aware that what is on the cutting room floor is the stipend rate. I never wrote anything more than about that specific issue.

But it is the stipend rate that many students use to keep from having to get bankster loans.

They don't always live at home and commute from their Mom and Dad's house - or even live there. They live in shared dorm rooms or buddy up in an apartment close to their school. This is what the stipend rate is for - to pay for something other than a space underneath a bridge.

And many of the Veterans who pass their benefit along do so at 40%, 50%, etc., when they do NOT initially receive 100% P&T or IU.

And those are the majority of wounded warriors I saw passing their GI Bill to their spouse or kids.

It can often take several years for the VA to award IU or 100% P&T. Meanwhile, these Vets kids are using this benefit while the VA takes all the time in the world to get that Veteran to an IU or P&T status.

This is WHY I am not I favor of this stipend cut. It takes months and months to go through the military medical discharge proceedings.

Then when the Vet is finished with that rat wheel, they get their initial VA rating.

Then it takes months and months - a year or two or three on the VA rat wheel to be properly upgraded to P&T or IU in order to get Chapter 35 (DEA).

In the meantime, the spouse can at least use the GI Bill to get trained to do a job and bring home some income.

In the meantime, the kid can go to school and not have to sleep in their car - can pay for their shared dorm room.

The GI BILL clocks out on the kid's 26 birthday, so in many cases, there is no time to waste.

I really don't see this as wasted money. It's actually money well spent. They will go on to be a better contributor in the work force as they have a higher education, they will probably pay more in taxes over their working lifetimes, and be the better for it.

But hey, it's OK with me if you think this is the right thing to do - to cut the stipend in half for these beneficiaries.

I simply don't agree.

So if we have a difference of opinion, I don't take it personally. It's no big deal to me.

We both get to have an opinion and express it respectfully on this forum.

But just know, that to the spouse and kid/kids of the disabled, this cut is one hell of a big deal to them.

"Thank-you for your service."

nwlivewire

 

Now that I can see through your eyes I totally get where you are coming from - and agree with what you are saying. I just had a problem with being able to follow your train of thought since my experience was 25 years ago and there was nowhere near the amount of support as there is now.

 

Brother, I know what you mean.

Years ago, I got the old VEAP. I remember I could only afford to live in a "dicey" neighborhood, was a single parent going to school full-time and working a part-time job. My monthly childcare bill was twice what I got from my monthly VEAP "stipend".

Even after graduating with 3.9 GPA for my AA degree, I still had bankster loans for 10,000 to cover my third year of living expenses. I got a very healthy scholarship to a good university, but 10K back then was the sticker price on a brand new, mid-sized, 4-door automobile.

VEAP was a sad sack of a joke.

The Post 9/11 GI BILL is not as good as the old WWII and Vietnam-era GI Bill. But it's sure what is needed in today's world where a B.A/B.S. is worth just a tad more than a 1940's HS diploma.

And it's a vast improvement over that ridiculous VEAP.

I was lucky that Congress passed the new GI Bill in 2009 as I FINALLY qualified for a benefit that was of real value to me.

And although I have no child under the age of 26 that can use my Chapter 35, I can still use my GI Bill to finish my fourth year of school and finally get that degree I've always wanted to get, but couldn't afford.

I'm glad I was able to express my thoughts to you in a way that made reasonable sense.

That's the big challenge for me when I write - to write in ways that make sense to another.

Thanks for going the extra mile in your patience!

V/R,
nwlivewire

 

Thanks to you also. Many would have went to name calling instead both of us putting forth the effort to clarify. (Not that Dustin would have let that kind of behavior get very far.)

I used Chapter 31 to get my BS in Finance with a Minor in Accounting, also with a 3.9 GPA (would have been 4.0 if not for a couple of those pesky Accounting classes LOL) Didn't you say you were wanting to take classes here? I never thought about using it overseas.

 

For sure, Dustin would have banged BOTH our heads together - OUCH!

**********

Yes. I've read much of the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) pertaining to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, spoke with the VA Regional office in charge of the Overseas educational systems approved for usage, and on and on. The bottom line is this:

The VA will never come knocking on your door, nor will they ever send you much detailed information about this program or any other program they have jurisdiction over.

So you have to dig in and read the CFRs and know more than they do. Sadly, many VA Reps just don't seem to have the depth of knowledge they really need in order to advocate for you.

You are your own best advocate. And the only way to get into the nuts and bolts of this program is to read the CFRs.

Once I began reading, lights went on all over the place for me.

And based on what I read and based on the comms I had with the VA Regional in charge of overseas/foreign school use of the GI Bill, I came up with a few, but very interesting ways that this GI Bill CAN be effectively used for personal and professional growth.

For example, did you know there is a VA-approved, GI Bill school in Berlin, Germany, that will pay a monthly stipend rate of over 3,200 per school month (8/12 of a year)? Did you know that this school is GI Bill approved, and, that in certain select majors, the Veteran can graduate with a degree that is DUALLY certified in both the USA and Germany (think world-wide mobility/employability)?

Did you know there are NINE countries in Europe that if you are accepted, that your tuition (as a US citizen) is the same price as for their native-born student (which is so cheap as to be laughable when compared to what we pay for our college education here in the States)? And you don't have to be a Veteran to get this tuition rate - just meet the entrance requirements (which are high, but hey, at least you won't have to pay foreigner tuition rates).

Anyway, there's a bunch of little things I read, that when I cobbled them together, I came up with some really cool ways I could use my GI Bill.

Like how to use the GI Bill to live in another area of the world (and NOT be underneath a bridge, but actually live well); how to complete a DUALLY accredited degree; and, how to increase one's international mobility/employability/self-employability.

Now the VA isn't going to knock on your door and tell you this. Chances are, only a handful of VA folks have even figured this out.

But this is the kinds of bits and pieces I was able to get from the CFRs, and I began to piece together a plan for what I'd like to do with what's left of my time on Earth.

I'm looking forward to this next chapter of my life. I'll finally get to complete an old "punch list", have a ball with a new one, and feed my wanderlust jones. The world is a fascinating place. And as maddening as it can be, and as crazy-making as it can be, there's still a lot of really cool stuff to see and do.

Sometimes I think when I am tired of jumping through needless hoops, there are a few that are worth jumping through.

Sometimes it's worth going out there, finding the hoop pieces, putting them together - and then jump through the hoop that one creates.

Yep. Sometimes you gotta create - and then jump - through your own hoops.

And that's what I get to do for a change.

nwlivewire

 

Sounds like you have life pretty well mapped out. I hope you enjoy your education and travels and you get everything you are planning for. Have a great time doing it and enjoy life. You only get to live it once and no makeovers allowed!

DaveD

 

Ain't that the truth Bro!

And thanks for your best wishes.

I'm looking forward to arriving to Duma and attending a Forum "meet and greet".

It'll be great to make good friends with you and your families.

I like to cook traditional, Northern Girl holiday meals, and hope to share these days with folks and families on this Forum.

God knows I can't eat all that food by myself - unless I want to eat it for a week straight. hahaha

Heck. Maybe we can pull together an international potluck dinner - just because we can.

Now that sounds like a whole bunch of friendship, food, and fun!

V/R,
nwlivewire