I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2481 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to codify and improve the election 

requirements for the receipt of educational assistance under the Post9/11 Educational Assistance program of the Department of Veterans 

Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2013 

Mr. FLORES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to codify and improve the election requirements for the receipt of educational assistance under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance program of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans G.I. Bill En5 rollment Clarification Act of 2013’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. RECODIFICATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF ELEC2 TION PROCESS FOR POST-9/11 EDUCATIONAL 

3 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 33 of 

5 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 3326. Election to receive educational assistance 

8 ‘‘(a) INDIVIDUALS ELIGIBLE TO ELECT PARTICIPA9 TION IN POST-9/11 EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.—An indi10 vidual may elect to receive educational assistance under 

11 this chapter if such individual— 

12 ‘‘(1) as of August 1, 2009— 

13 ‘‘(A) is entitled to basic educational assist14 ance under chapter 30 of the title and has used, 

15 but retains unused, entitlement under that 

16 chapter; 

17 ‘‘(B) is entitled to educational assistance 

18 under chapter 107, 1606, or 1607 of title 10 

19 and has used, but retains unused, entitlement 

20 under the applicable chapter; 

21 ‘‘(C) is entitled to basic educational assist22 ance under chapter 30 of this title but has not 

23 used any entitlement under that chapter; 

24 ‘‘(D) is entitled to educational assistance 

25 under chapter 107, 1606, or 1607 of title 10 

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1 but has not used any entitlement under such 

2 chapter; 

3 ‘‘(E) is a member of the Armed Forces 

4 who is eligible for receipt of basic educational 

5 assistance under chapter 30 this title and is 

6 making contributions toward such assistance 

7 under section 3011(b) or 3012(c) of this title; 

8 or 

9 ‘‘(F) is a member of the Armed Forces 

10 who is not entitled to basic educational assist11 ance under chapter 30 of this title by reason of 

12 an election under section 3011(c)(1) or 

13 3012(d)(1) of this title; and 

14 ‘‘(2) as of the date of the individual’s election 

15 under this paragraph, meets the requirements for 

16 entitlement to educational assistance under this 

17 chapter. 

18 ‘‘(b) CESSATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD GI 

19 BILL.—Effective as of the first month beginning on or 

20 after the date of an election under subsection (a) of an 

21 individual described by paragraph (1)(E) of that sub22 section, the obligation of the individual to make contribu23 tions under section 3011(b) or 3012(c) of this title, as 

24 applicable, shall cease, and the requirements of such secmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 tion shall be deemed to be no longer applicable to the indi2 vidual. 

3 ‘‘(c) REVOCATION OF REMAINING TRANSFERRED

4 ENTITLEMENT.— 

5 ‘‘(1) ELECTION TO REVOKE.—If, on the date an 

6 individual described in paragraph (1)(A) or (1)(C) of 

7 subsection (a) makes an election under that sub8 section, a transfer of the entitlement of the indi9 vidual to basic educational assistance under section 

10 3020 of this title is in effect and a number of 

11 months of the entitlement so transferred remain un12 utilized, the individual may elect to revoke all or a 

13 portion of the entitlement so transferred that re14 mains unutilized. 

15 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF REVOKED ENTITLE16 MENT.—Any entitlement revoked by an individual 

17 under this paragraph shall no longer be available to 

18 the dependent to whom transferred, but shall be 

19 available to the individual instead for educational as20 sistance under chapter 33 of this title in accordance 

21 with the provisions of this section. 

22 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF UNREVOKED ENTITLE23 MENT.—Any entitlement described in paragraph (1) 

24 that is not revoked by an individual in accordance 

25 with that paragraph shall remain available to the demstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 pendent or dependents concerned in accordance with 

2 the current transfer of such entitlement under sec3 tion 3020 of this title. 

4 ‘‘(d) POST-9/11 EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2) 

6 and except as provided in subsection (e), an indi7 vidual making an election under subsection (a) shall 

8 be entitled to educational assistance under this chap9 ter in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, 

10 instead of basic educational assistance under chapter 

11 30 this title, or educational assistance under chapter 

12 107, 1606, or 1607 of title 10, as applicable. 

13 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON ENTITLEMENT FOR CER14 TAIN INDIVIDUALS.—In the case of an individual 

15 making an election under subsection (a) who is de16 scribed by paragraph (1)(A) of that subsection, the 

17 number of months of entitlement of the individual to 

18 educational assistance under this chapter 33 shall be 

19 the number of months equal to— 

20 ‘‘(A) the number of months of unused enti21 tlement of the individual under chapter 30 of 

22 this title, as of the date of the election, plus 

23 ‘‘(B) the number of months, if any, of enti24 tlement revoked by the individual under sub25 section (c)(1). 

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1 ‘‘(e) CONTINUING ENTITLEMENT TO EDUCATIONAL

2 ASSISTANCE NOT AVAILABLE UNDER 9/11 ASSISTANCE

3 PROGRAM.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the event educational 

5 assistance to which an individual making an election 

6 under subsection (a) would be entitled under chapter 

7 30 of this title, or chapter 107, 1606, or 1607 of 

8 title 10, as applicable, is not authorized to be avail9 able to the individual under the provisions of this 

10 chapter the individual shall remain entitled to such 

11 educational assistance in accordance with the provi12 sions of the applicable chapter. 

13 ‘‘(2) CHARGE FOR USE OF ENTITLEMENT.— 

14 The utilization by an individual of entitlement under 

15 paragraph (1) shall be chargeable against the enti16 tlement of the individual to educational assistance 

17 under this chapter at the rate of one month of enti18 tlement under this chapter for each month of entitle19 ment utilized by the individual under paragraph (1) 

20 (as determined as if such entitlement were utilized 

21 under the provisions of chapter 30 of this title, or 

22 chapter 107, 1606, or 1607 of title 10, as applica23 ble). 

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1 ‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL POST-9/11 ASSISTANCE FOR MEM2 BERS HAVING MADE CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD GI 

3 BILL.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE.—In the case of 

5 an individual making an election under subsection 

6 (a) who is described by subparagraph (A), (C), or 

7 (E) of paragraph (1) of that subsection, the amount 

8 of educational assistance payable to the individual 

9 under this chapter 33 as a monthly stipend payable 

10 under paragraph (1)(B) of section 3313(c) of this 

11 title, or under paragraphs (2) through (7) of that 

12 section (as applicable), shall be the amount other13 wise payable as a monthly stipend under the applica14 ble paragraph increased by the amount equal to— 

15 ‘‘(A) the total amount of contributions to16 ward basic educational assistance made by the 

17 individual under section 3011(b) or 3012(c) of 

18 this title, as of the date of the election, multi19 plied by 

20 ‘‘(B) the fraction— 

21 ‘‘(i) the numerator of which is— 

22 ‘‘(I) the number of months of en23 titlement to basic educational assist24 ance under chapter 30 of this title remstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 maining to the individual at the time 

2 of the election; plus 

3 ‘‘(II) the number of months, if 

4 any, of entitlement under such chap5 ter 30 revoked by the individual under 

6 subsection (c)(1); and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the denominator of which is 36 

8 months. 

9 ‘‘(2) MONTHS OF REMAINING ENTITLEMENT

10 FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS.—In the case of an indi11 vidual covered by paragraph (1) who is described by 

12 subsection (a)(1)(E), the number of months of enti13 tlement to basic educational assistance remaining to 

14 the individual for purposes of paragraph 

15 (1)(B)(i)(II) shall be 36 months. 

16 ‘‘(3) TIMING OF PAYMENT.—The amount pay17 able with respect to an individual under paragraph 

18 (1) shall be paid to the individual together with the 

19 last payment of the monthly stipend payable to the 

20 individual under paragraph (1)(B) of section 

21 3313(c) of this title, or under subsections (b) 

22 through (g) of that section (as applicable), before 

23 the exhaustion of the individual’s entitlement to edu24 cational assistance under this chapter. 

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1 ‘‘(g) CONTINUING ENTITLEMENT TO ADDITIONAL

2 ASSISTANCE FOR CRITICAL SKILLS OR SPECIALITY AND

3 ADDITIONAL SERVICE.—An individual making an election 

4 under subsection (a)(1) who, at the time of the election, 

5 is entitled to increased educational assistance under sec6 tion 3015(d) of this title, or section 16131(i) of title 10, 

7 or supplemental educational assistance under subchapter 

8 III of chapter 30 of this title, shall remain entitled to such 

9 increased educational assistance or supplemental edu10 cational assistance in the utilization of entitlement to edu11 cational assistance under this chapter, in an amount equal 

12 to the quarter, semester, or term, as applicable, equivalent 

13 of the monthly amount of such increased educational as14 sistance or supplemental educational assistance payable 

15 with respect to the individual at the time of the election. 

16 ‘‘(h) ALTERNATIVE ELECTION BY SECRETARY.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual 

18 who submits to the Secretary an election under this 

19 section that the Secretary determines is clearly 

20 against the interests of the individual, the Secretary 

21 may make an alternative election on behalf of the in22 dividual that the Secretary determines is in the best 

23 interests of the individual. 

24 ‘‘(2) NOTICE.—If the Secretary makes an elec25 tion on behalf of an individual under this subsection, 

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1 the Secretary shall notify the individual by not later 

2 than seven days after making such election and shall 

3 provide the individual with a 30-day period, begin4 ning on the date of the individual’s receipt of such 

5 notice, during which the individual may modify or 

6 revoke the election made by the Secretary on the in7 dividual’s behalf. The Secretary shall include, as 

8 part of such notice, a clear statement of why the al9 ternative election made by the Secretary is in the 

10 best interests of the individual as compared to the 

11 election submitted by the individual. The Secretary 

12 shall provide the notice required under this para13 graph by electronic means whenever possible. 

14 ‘‘(i) IRREVOCABILITY OF ELECTIONS.—An election 

15 under subsection (a) or (c)(1) is irrevocable.’’. 

16 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

17 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

18 at the end the following new item: 

‘‘3326. Election to receive educational assistance.’’. 

19 (c) CONFORMING REPEAL.—Subsection (c) of section 

20 5003 of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance 

21 Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–252; 38 U.S.C. 3301 note) 

22 is hereby repealed. 

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