Title: A bill to protect the entitlement of individuals to Post-9/11 Educational Assistance who discontinue pursuit of a program of education during the national emergency relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Education

Summary:
This bill preserves the entitlement to education benefits under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program for veterans who discontinue their program of education during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.
Specifically, the bill prohibits an educational assistance payment from being (1) charged against an individual's entitlement to educational assistance, or (2) counted against the aggregate period of such assistance (in most cases 48 months). An educational assistance payment is a payment to an individual for the pursuit of a course, if the individual discontinued the course due to COVID-19 and either failed to receive credit or lost training time toward completion of the program of education.
Further, the bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to continue paying subsistence allowances (monthly housing stipends) for a specified amount of time following the discontinuation of courses.
It also preserves the entitlement to tutorial assistance and assistance for relocation or travel.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3925 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3925

  To protect the entitlement of individuals to Post-9/11 Educational 
Assistance who discontinue pursuit of a program of education during the 
  national emergency relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 9, 2020

  Mr. Blumenthal (for himself and Mr. Brown) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To protect the entitlement of individuals to Post-9/11 Educational 
Assistance who discontinue pursuit of a program of education during the 
  national emergency relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, 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. PROTECTION OF ENTITLEMENT TO POST-9/11 EDUCATIONAL 
              ASSISTANCE DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC.

    (a) In General.--Any payment of educational assistance described in 
subsection (b) shall not--
            (1) be charged against any entitlement to educational 
        assistance of the individual under chapter 33 of title 38, 
        United States Code, including entitlement to benefits under 
        section 3320 of such title; or
            (2) be counted against the aggregate period for which 
        section 3695 of such title limits the receipt of educational 
        assistance by such individual.
    (b) Educational Assistance Described.--Subject to subsection (d), 
the payment of educational assistance described in this subsection is 
the payment of such assistance to an individual for pursuit of a course 
or courses under such chapter if the individual--
            (1) discontinued such course pursuit for any reason during 
        the COVID-19 pandemic period described in subsection (c); and
            (2) failed to receive credit or lost training time toward 
        completion of the program of education being so pursued.
    (c) COVID-19 Pandemic Period Described.--The COVID-19 pandemic 
period described in this subsection is the period beginning on the date 
of the commencement of the national emergency declared by the President 
under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) with 
respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and ending on the 
date that is the earlier of--
            (1) the date on which the President revokes such 
        declaration; and
            (2) the date on which such national emergency expires.
    (d) Period Not Charged.--The period for which, by reason of this 
section, educational assistance is not charged against entitlement or 
counted toward the applicable aggregate period under section 3695 of 
this title shall not exceed the aggregate of--
            (1) the portion of the period of enrollment in the course 
        or courses from which the individual did not receive credit or 
        with respect to which the individual lost training time, as 
        determined under subsection (b)(2); and
            (2) the period by which a monthly stipend is extended under 
        subsection (e).
    (e) Continued Payment of Subsistence Allowance.--Notwithstanding 
section 3680(a)(1) of such title, the Secretary may, pursuant to such 
regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe, continue to pay 
allowances to eligible persons enrolled in courses described in 
subsection (b) solely for the purpose of awarding a monthly housing 
stipend described in section 3313 of such title or section 116(d) of 
Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (Public 
Law 115-48; 38 U.S.C. 3001 note), during periods following the 
discontinuation of a course or courses pursuit described in subsection 
(b)(1), except that payment of such stipend may only continue until the 
earlier of--
            (1) the date of the end of the term, quarter, or semester 
        during which the discontinuation occurred; and
            (2) the date that is 28 days after the date of the 
        discontinuation.
    (f) Additional Relief.--
            (1) Tutorial assistance.--Any amount received under section 
        3314 of such title for tutorial assistance under such section 
        that was discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic period 
        described in subsection (c) because of the national emergency 
        described in such subsection shall not count toward the 
        aggregate amount under subsection (c) of such section.
            (2) Assistance for relocation or travel.--Any amount 
        received under section 3318 of such title if the amount was 
        paid during--
                    (A) the academic term of a course that was 
                discontinued as described in subsection (b)(1);
                    (B) the 30-day period immediately preceding such 
                academic term; or
                    (C) the 30-day period immediately following such 
                academic term.
            (3) Tests.--Educational assistance received under section 
        3315 or 3315A of such title for a test that the Secretary finds 
        could not be taken because of the national emergency described 
        in subsection (c) shall not be charged against entitlement 
        under section 3315(c) or section 3315A(c) of such title, 
        respectively.
    (g) Waiver of Certain Regulation.--Section 21.7020(b)(19)(ii) of 
title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the day before 
the date of the enactment of this Act, shall not apply to any 
discontinuation or withdrawal described in this section.
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