A nonpartisan study is needed before the federal government makes any sweeping policy changes that would affect student veterans’ benefits, writes Daniel Elkins.
Since 2010, I have served in the United States military in the National Guard. I am a proud life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and the Enlisted Association of the National Guard, known as EANGUS, and have served in combat under hostile fire as a Green Beret. For the last five years, I have also advocated for my fellow veterans as the legislative director for EANGUS. I live and breathe veterans’ rights because, as a service member myself, it is personal.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, in 2018 the Department of Veterans Affairs paid out over $10 billion in education benefits to student veterans and institutions of higher education. This substantial amount of money has placed veterans’ education benefits at the center of policy discussions with significant controversy.
At EANGUS, I have advocated for student veterans to ensure they get the compensation they deserve for the heroic duties they have performed for our country, but unfortunately the bureaucrats in D.C. don’t always make it easy.
From the Department of Defense restricting how troops can transfer their GI Bill Benefits to their families, to the VA restricting how many veterans can go to a school, to politicians considering vast changes to laws without figuring out the implications they might have on veterans, I have my work cut out for me. With the stakes this high, we can’t afford to play politics with student veterans’ benefits. Fortunately, a few simple, common-sense solutions would greatly help student veterans and their families.