Lawmakers Call for Investigation into Delayed GI Bill Payments
Following months of delayed and incorrect paymentsto GI Bill beneficiaries, federal lawmakers are calling for an investigation into the Department of Veterans Affairs amid confusion over whether the department intends to reconcile payment discrepancies for student veterans.
U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, joined a contingent of senators who sent a letter Friday to VA Inspector General Michael Missal. They requested an investigation after reports emerged that the department was not planning to make up the difference to student veterans who received checks for less than what they were legally owed under changes made to the GI Bill in 2017.
"The VA's continued ambiguity about whether it will fulfill this legal requirement threatens to erode our veterans’ confidence in the VA’s ability to deliver promised care and benefits and demands close oversight and accountability," the lawmakers wrote.
Under the new law, known as the Forever GI Bill, students were supposed to be paid the Basic Allowance for Housing rates for the area where they physically attend classes, such as at a satellite campus in a different town, rather than the location of their school's main campus.
Although that change was supposed to go into effect for the start of the fall semester, students were paid out at their old housing stipend rates due to what the VA attributed to problems with updating its computer systems. The stipends did not factor in a cost-of-living adjustment for 2018.
Many students were also left waiting weeks for their checks as the department worked through the backlog of claims that piled up.
The VA announced Wednesday it would be pushing back the implementation date of the housing stipend changes to December 2019 as a result of "continued information technology difficulties." The department estimated those issues would be resolved in time for the start of the spring 2020 semester.
Until then, students will be paid housing allowances based on the location of their school's main campuses rather than their physical location as the new law directs. Those who might have been paid amounts higher than what they would have received if the changes had been implemented won't be responsible for paying the difference back to the VA.
"Redesigning the way (Veterans Benefits Administration) calculates Post 9/11 GI Bill housing rates during a busy academic season was like flying a plane while building it, and that was unfair and frustrating to veterans and taxpayers," VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a statement Wednesday. "That’s why we are resetting our implementation of the law for the next year to ensure we get the technology and formula right to put veterans first."
Although the VA intends to repay veterans who did not receive a cost-of-living adjustment for 2018, it remains unclear if the department will reimburse students who should have received a larger payment because of their location.
The VA issued a statement Thursday that said the department would retroactively correct any underpayments, however, lawmakers are skeptical.
"It remains unclear if VA intends to provide retroactive payments to veterans for housing stipends based on rates that they were legally entitled to beginning August 1, 2018, or if the VA only intends to make veterans whole based on the rates as they existed before the law took effect — and remain in violation of existing law," the letter states.
Wilkie issued a statement Thursday evening to reassure student veterans.
"To clear up any confusion, I want to make clear that each and every post-9/11 GI Bill beneficiary will be made 100 percent whole – retroactively if need be – for their housing benefits for this academic year based on Forever GI Bill rates, not on post-9/11 GI Bill rates," Wilkie said.
In the letter sent to the VA's inspector general, lawmakers sought answers to a laundry list of questions, including how the VA intends to address the issues that caused the payment problems in the first place and clarification on how and when the department will repay students veterans.
Such information will help assist lawmakers while they construct the VA's fiscal year 2020's budget "so that we can evaluate whether the VA has requested the appropriate resources that it needs to make timely beneficiary payments and deliver other promised care to our veterans."
Kilmer, whose district includes an estimated 37,000 veterans in Kitsap County, pushed for the VA to honor full repayment to students.
"Veterans have already fought for our country, they should never have to fight the VA to get the benefits they earned and deserve," Kilmer said. "The VA had a year to plan the rollout of the Forever GI Bill' s housing stipend changes, and the fact that it has been bungled so badly is unworthy of the service veterans have provided the nation. The VA needs to repay veterans every cent they're owed immediately."
Many students feel left in the lurch as Congress tries to sort out what's going on behind the scenes.
"The whole thing seems like a betrayal of trust," said Sean Delaire, a Marine Corps veteran and student at Olympic College. Delaire is also one of the co-founders of Left Right Straight, a Bremerton-based nonprofit and advocacy organization that seeks to foster a sense of community for veterans through outdoor activities.
Just like Delaire, a number of student veterans at Olympic College had to wait weeks after the start of the semester before they received their GI Bill benefits.
"It's a huge ethical problem when these servicemembers sign their contract, serving their country with honor, and then come home and are expecting to be taken care of and have the government fulfill their end of the contract," Delaire said. "For a lot of people, the GI Bill is one of the reasons they joined, so they can go to school afterwards and become contributing members of society with higher education, and so for the VA to say, we're not going to uphold our end of the bargain, it's disheartening."
If there are student veterans who are still waiting to receive their benefits, Delaire encouraged them to contact the VA through a hotline to assist veterans at 1-888-442-4551, or to contact their congressman's office or a service organization for further assistance.
"There needs to be serious oversight, or nothing is going to change," Delaire said. "Very bluntly, there are some people who need to get fired, not just relocated. They need to get leadership who is actually going to change things. it's just unacceptable."
By: Julianne Stanford
Source: Kitsap Sun