In a unanimous vote, the House of Representatives passed an expansion to the GI Bill Monday.
The GI Bill has helped millions of veterans pay for college, graduate school, and other training programs since 1944.
“One way we make sure that the GI Bill endures is by updating it to meet the times.” Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said in a statement.
The GI bill has helped nearly 1 million veterans receive to secondary education since its last expansion of in 2009. The new GI Bill proposed by the House Veteran Affairs Committee is the bills biggest expansion in a over decade.
Lawmakers have named it the “Forever GI Bill” due to its new provision that prohibits enrollees benefits from expiring. Previously veterans had within 15 years of active duty service to utilize their benefits. The House’s bill would not only eliminate that requirement but also expand its benefits to members of the reserves, Purple Heart recipients, and surviving dependents. In addition, the Forever GI bill will provide more funding to those seeking degrees in science, technology, engineering or math, and restore benefits to those who have been affected by recent school closings.
In order to supplement the added $3 billion cost to expand these benefits, the House has proposed to make reductions to the housing allowances.
