Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-1598
Sponsor: Sen. Isakson, Johnny [R-GA]
Introduced: 2017-07-20 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Alabama
Asia
Chemical and biological weapons
Colorado
Computers and information technology
Conflicts and wars
Congressional oversight
Department of Veterans Affairs
Disability assistance
District of Columbia
Educational guidance
Florida
Government studies and investigations
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Higher education
Illinois
India
Latin America
Licensing and registrations
Maryland
Military facilities and property
Military medicine
Military personnel and dependents
Mississippi
Missouri
National Guard and reserves
New York State
North Carolina
Panama
Performance measurement
Science and engineering education
South Carolina
State and local government operations
Student aid and college costs
Teaching, teachers, curricula
User charges and fees
Utah
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
Veterans' loans, housing, homeless programs
Veterans' pensions and compensation
Virginia
Vocational and technical education

Summary:
action_date: 2017-07-20
text: 

Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017

 
This bill revises education and related benefits provided to veterans, service members, dependents, and survivors. 
 
The bill amends the Post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance program to: 
 
 
remove certain time restrictions on program use; 
 
increase assistance for reservists, guardsmen, dependents, and surviving spouses and dependents;
 
provide full eligibility for Post-9/11 Purple Heart recipients and certain reservists and guardsmen;
 
provide an extra academic years' worth of benefits for STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) degree candidates; 
 
establish a five-year pilot program for high technology courses; 
 
restore eligibility for service members whose school closes in the middle of a semester; 
 
authorize funding to improve claims processing; 
 
permit assistance to be used at certain institutions that are not institutions of higher education; and 
 
pro-rate the housing stipend for reservists called to active duty.
 
 
The bill authorizes the Edith Nurse Rogers STEM Scholarship to help veterans complete STEM degrees. 
 
 The Yellow Ribbon program is extended to Fry Scholarship recipients (surviving dependents of service members who died on active duty) and certain Purple Heart recipients. (The Yellow Ribbon program helps veterans pay for higher education tuition and fee costs not covered by the Post-9/11 program.)
 
The bill: (1) extends the Advisory Committee on Education, (2) increases survivors' and dependents' educational assistance, and (3) extends funding for state educational program approving agencies.
 
 The bill provides statutory authority for the veterans success of campus program which provides veterans with on-campus educational and vocational counseling.
 
 The Department of Veterans Affairs shall: (1) make a new determination regarding each denied veteran's claim for disability compensation in connection with full-body exposure to mustard gas or Lewisite at specified locations during World War II, and (2) presume such exposure unless there is affirmative evidence otherwise.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-08-02
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 200.
action_date: 2017-08-02
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Reported by Senator Isakson without amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2017-08-02
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Reported by Senator Isakson without amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2017-07-26
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
action_date: 2017-07-20
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2017-07-20
text: Introduced in Senate