Title: SIT-REP Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Servicemembers Improved Transition through Reforms for Ensuring Progress Act or the SIT-REP Act
This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to require educational institutions, in order to be eligible for educational payments, to adopt policies that prohibit penalizing student veterans for late VA assistance payments.
Such policies shall: (1) permit a veteran who provides the institution with a certificate of VA assistance eligibility to attend courses for a period without VA payment; and (2) ensure that the educational institution will not impose penalties such as late fees, course denial, or requiring an individual to borrow additional funds because of delayed VA payments.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4830 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4830

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the disapproval 
 of any course of education for purposes of the educational assistance 
 programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs unless the educational 
   institution providing the course permits individuals to attend or 
  participate in courses pending payment by Department, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 18, 2018

Mr. Bilirakis (for himself, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, Mr. Posey, Mr. 
Mast, Mr. Jones, and Mr. O'Rourke) introduced the following bill; which 
           was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the disapproval 
 of any course of education for purposes of the educational assistance 
 programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs unless the educational 
   institution providing the course permits individuals to attend or 
  participate in courses pending payment by Department, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Servicemembers Improved Transition 
through Reforms for Ensuring Progress Act'' or the ``SIT-REP Act''.

SEC. 2. DISAPPROVAL FOR PURPOSES OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS OF 
              DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OF CERTAIN COURSES OF 
              EDUCATION THAT DO NOT PERMIT INDIVIDUALS TO ATTEND OR 
              PARTICIPATE IN COURSES PENDING PAYMENT.

    Section 3679 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, 
beginning on August 1, 2018, a State approving agency, or the Secretary 
when acting in the role of the State approving agency, shall disapprove 
a course of education provided by an educational institution unless the 
educational institution has adopted the following policies:
            ``(A) A policy that permits any covered individual to 
        attend or participate in the course of education during the 
        period beginning on the date on which the individual provides 
        to the educational institution a certificate of eligibility for 
        entitlement to educational assistance under chapter 30, 31, 33, 
        or 35 of this title and ending on the earlier of the following 
        dates:
                    ``(i) The date on which the Secretary provides 
                payment for such course of education to such 
                institution.
                    ``(ii) The date that is 90 days after the date on 
                which the individual provides to the educational 
                institution such certificate of eligibility.
            ``(B) A policy that ensures that the educational 
        institution will not impose any penalty, including the 
        assessment of late fees, the denial of access to classes, 
        libraries, or other institutional facilities, or the 
        requirement that a covered individual borrow additional funds, 
        on any covered individual because of the individual's inability 
        to meet his or her financial obligations to the institution as 
        a result of the delayed disbursement of any payment to be 
        provided by the Secretary.
    ``(2) For purposes of this subsection, a covered individual is any 
individual who is entitled to educational assistance under chapter 30, 
31, 33, or 35 of this title.
    ``(3) The Secretary may waive such requirements of paragraph (1) as 
the Secretary considers appropriate.''.
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