Protecting Our Gold Star Families' Education Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1851 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide Federal Pell Grants to Iraq and Afghanistan veteran’s dependents. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 13, 2019 Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. TESTER, and Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide Federal Pell Grants to Iraq and Afghanistan veteran’s dependents. 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 ‘‘Protecting Our Gold 4 Star Families’ Education Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1851.IS S1851 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1851 IS SEC. 2. PROVIDING FEDERAL PELL GRANTS FOR IRAQ AND 1 AFGHANISTAN VETERAN’S DEPENDENTS. 2 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Part A of title IV of the Higher 3 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.) is 4 amended— 5 (1) in section 401, by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(k) GRANTS FOR VETERAN’S DEPENDENTS.— 8 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE VETERAN’S DE- 9 PENDENT.—In this subsection, the term ‘eligible vet- 10 eran’s dependent’ means a dependent or an inde- 11 pendent student— 12 ‘‘(A) whose parent or guardian was an in- 13 dividual who, on or after September 11, 2001, 14 died in line of duty while serving on active duty 15 as a member of the Armed Forces; and 16 ‘‘(B) who is less than 33 years of age. 17 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 19 award a Federal Pell Grant, as modified in ac- 20 cordance with the requirements of this sub- 21 section, to each eligible veteran’s dependent to 22 assist in paying the eligible veteran’s depend- 23 ent’s cost of attendance at an institution of 24 higher education. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1851.IS S1851 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1851 IS ‘‘(B) DESIGNATION.—Federal Pell Grants 1 made under this subsection may be known as 2 ‘Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants’. 3 ‘‘(3) PREVENTION OF DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No 4 eligible veteran’s dependent may receive a grant 5 under both this subsection and subsection (a) for the 6 same award year. 7 ‘‘(4) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 9 award Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants 10 under this subsection in the same manner and 11 with the same terms and conditions, including 12 the length of the period of eligibility, as the 13 Secretary awards Federal Pell Grants under 14 subsection (a), except as otherwise provided in 15 subparagraph (B). 16 ‘‘(B) DIFFERENT TERMS AND CONDI- 17 TIONS.— 18 ‘‘(i) AMOUNT.—An Iraq and Afghani- 19 stan Service Grant awarded under this 20 subsection for an award year shall equal 21 the maximum Federal Pell Grant available 22 for that award year, except that such Iraq 23 and Afghanistan Service Grant— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1851.IS S1851 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1851 IS ‘‘(I) shall not exceed the cost of 1 attendance of the eligible veteran’s de- 2 pendent for that award year; and 3 ‘‘(II) shall be adjusted to reflect 4 the attendance by the eligible vet- 5 eran’s dependent on a less than full- 6 time basis in the same manner as 7 such adjustments are made for a Fed- 8 eral Pell Grant under subsection (a). 9 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATIONS OF NEED.— 10 The award rules and determination of need 11 applicable to the calculation of Federal 12 Pell Grants under subsection (a) shall not 13 apply to Iraq and Afghanistan Service 14 Grants. 15 ‘‘(iii) MAXIMUM PERIOD.—The max- 16 imum period determined under subsection 17 (c)(5) shall be determined by including all 18 Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants re- 19 ceived by the eligible veteran’s dependent, 20 including such Grants received under sub- 21 part 10 before the effective date of this 22 subsection. 23 ‘‘(5) ESTIMATED FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—For 24 purposes of determinations of need under part F, an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1851.IS S1851 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1851 IS Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant shall not be 1 treated as estimated financial assistance as de- 2 scribed in sections 471(3) and 480(j).’’; and 3 (2) by striking subpart 10. 4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION.— 5 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 6 by this section shall take effect with respect to the 7 award year immediately following the date of enact- 8 ment of this Act. 9 (2) TRANSITION.—The Secretary shall take 10 such steps as are necessary to transition from the 11 Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants program under 12 subpart 10 of part A of title IV of the Higher Edu- 13 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070h), as in effect 14 on the day before the effective date of this section, 15 and the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants pro- 16 gram under section 401(k) of the Higher Education 17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(k)), as amended by 18 this section. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1851.IS S1851 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS