Montgomery GI Bill Parity Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1349 To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize concurrent use of Department of Defense Tuition Assistance and Montgomery GI Bill- Selected Reserve benefits, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 22, 2021 Mr. HOEVEN (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. ROUNDS, Ms. HASSAN, and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize concur- rent use of Department of Defense Tuition Assistance and Montgomery GI Bill-Selected Reserve benefits, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Montgomery GI Bill 4 Parity Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1349 IS SEC. 2. CONCURRENT USE OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 1 TUITION ASSISTANCE AND MONTGOMERY GI 2 BILL-SELECTED RESERVE BENEFITS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 16131 of title 10, United 4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing new subsection: 6 ‘‘(k)(1) In the case of an individual entitled to edu- 7 cational assistance under this chapter who is pursuing 8 education or training described in subsection (a) or (c) of 9 section 2007 of this title on a half-time or more basis, 10 the Secretary concerned shall, at the election of the indi- 11 vidual, pay the individual educational assistance allowance 12 under this chapter for pursuit of such education or train- 13 ing as if the individual were not also eligible to receive 14 or in receipt of educational assistance under section 2007 15 for pursuit of such education or training. 16 ‘‘(2)(A) In the case of an individual entitled to edu- 17 cational assistance under this chapter who is pursuing 18 education or training described in subsection (a) or (c) of 19 section 2007 of this title on a less than half-time basis, 20 the Secretary concerned shall, at the election of the indi- 21 vidual, pay the individual an educational assistance allow- 22 ance to meet all or a portion of the charges of the edu- 23 cational institution for tuition or expenses for the edu- 24 cation or training that are not paid by the Secretary of 25 the military department concerned under such subsection. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1349 IS ‘‘(B)(i) The amount of the educational assistance al- 1 lowance payable to an individual under this paragraph for 2 a month shall be the amount of the educational assistance 3 allowance to which the individual would be entitled for the 4 month under subsection (b), (d), (e), or (f). 5 ‘‘(ii) The number of months of entitlement charged 6 under this chapter in the case of an individual who has 7 been paid an educational assistance allowance under this 8 paragraph shall be equal to the number (including any 9 fraction) determined by dividing the total amount of such 10 educational assistance allowance paid the individual by the 11 full-time monthly institutional rate of educational assist- 12 ance which such individual would otherwise be paid under 13 subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) of subsection (b)(1), 14 subsection (d), subsection (e), or subsection (f), as the 15 case may be.’’. 16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2007(d) 17 of such title is amended— 18 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or chapter 19 1606 of this title’’ after ‘‘of title 38’’; and 20 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, in the case 21 of educational assistance under chapter 30 of such 22 title, and section 16131(k), in the case of edu- 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1349 IS cational assistance under chapter 1606 of this title’’ 1 before the period at the end. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS