GI Bill Access to Career Credentials Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2934 To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the use of educational assistance under chapter 33 of that title to pay for preparatory courses for professional licenses and certifications, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2019 Mr. SABLAN (for himself and Mr. BANKS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the use of educational assistance under chapter 33 of that title to pay for preparatory courses for professional li- censes and certifications, 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 ‘‘GI Bill Access to Ca- 4 reer Credentials Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2934.IH H2934 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2934 IH SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PREPARATORY COURSES 1 AS PROGRAMS OF EDUCATION FOR PUR- 2 POSES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF- 3 FAIRS EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PRO- 4 GRAMS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 33 of title 38, United 6 States Code, is amended by adding the following new sec- 7 tion: 8 ‘‘§ 3315B. Preparatory courses for licensure, certifi- 9 cation, or national tests 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An individual entitled to edu- 11 cational assistance under this chapter shall also be entitled 12 to payment for a preparatory course for a licensing or cer- 13 tification test that is required or used to enter into, main- 14 tain, or advance in employment in a predetermined and 15 identified vocation or profession. 16 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT.—The amount of educational assist- 17 ance payable under this chapter for a course described in 18 subsection (a) is the lesser of— 19 ‘‘(1) the fee charged for the course; or 20 ‘‘(2) the amount of entitlement available to the 21 individual under this chapter at the time of payment 22 for the course under this section. 23 ‘‘(c) CHARGE AGAINST ENTITLEMENT.—The number 24 of months of entitlement charged an individual under this 25 chapter for a course described in subsection (a) shall be 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2934.IH H2934 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2934 IH pro-rated based on the actual amount of the fee charged 1 for the course relative to the rate for 1 month payable— 2 ‘‘(1) for the academic year beginning on August 3 1, 2011, $1,460; or 4 ‘‘(2) for an academic year beginning on any 5 subsequent August 1, the amount for the previous 6 academic year beginning on August 1 under this 7 subsection, as increased by the percentage increase 8 equal to the most recent percentage increase deter- 9 mined under section 3015(h).’’. 10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 3532(g) 11 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 12 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or a pre- 13 paratory course described in section 3315B(a) of 14 this title’’ after ‘‘or national test providing an oppor- 15 tunity for course credit at institutions of higher 16 learning described in section 3501(a)(5) of this 17 title’’; and 18 (2) in paragraphs (2) and (3), by inserting ‘‘or 19 preparatory course’’ after ‘‘test’’ everywhere it ap- 20 pears. 21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 22 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to months begin- 23 ning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2934.IH H2934 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS