Student Veteran Empowerment Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4085 To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements in the educational assistance programs of the Department of Veterans Af- fairs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 26, 2019 Mr. BILIRAKIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements in the educational assistance programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Student Veteran Em- 4 powerment Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4085.IH H4085 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4085 IH SEC. 2. CHARGE TO ENTITLEMENT TO EDUCATIONAL AS- 1 SISTANCE FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO DO NOT 2 TRANSFER CREDITS FROM CERTAIN DIS- 3 APPROVED PROGRAMS OF EDUCATION. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 3699 of 5 title 38, United States Code, is amended to read as fol- 6 lows: 7 ‘‘(c) PERIOD NOT CHARGED.—(1) The period for 8 which, by reason of this subsection, educational assistance 9 is not charged against entitlement or counted toward the 10 applicable aggregate period under section 3695 of this title 11 shall not exceed the aggregate of— 12 ‘‘(A) the portion of the period of enrollment in 13 the course from which the individual did not receive 14 credit or with respect to which the individual lost 15 training time, as determined under subsection 16 (b)(2); and 17 ‘‘(B) the period by which a monthly stipend is 18 extended under section 3680(a)(2)(B) of this title. 19 ‘‘(2)(A) An individual described in paragraph (2) who 20 transfers fewer than 12 credits from a program of edu- 21 cation that is disapproved as described in subsection 22 (b)(1)(B) shall be deemed to be an individual who did not 23 receive such credits, as described in subsection (b)(2), ex- 24 cept that the period for which such individual’s entitle- 25 ment is not charged shall be the entire period of the indi- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4085.IH H4085 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4085 IH vidual’s enrollment in the program of education. In car- 1 rying out this subparagraph, the Secretary, in consultation 2 with the Secretary of Education, shall establish procedures 3 to determine whether the individual transferred credits to 4 a comparable course or program of education. 5 ‘‘(B) An individual described in this paragraph is an 6 individual who is enrolled in a course or program of edu- 7 cation discontinued as described in subsection (b)(1)(B) 8 during the period beginning on the date that is 120 days 9 before the date of such discontinuance and ending on the 10 date of such discontinuance.’’. 11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 12 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 180 13 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 14 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR APPROVAL OF 15 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS FOR PURPOSES 16 OF THE EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PRO- 17 GRAMS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 18 AFFAIRS. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3675(b) of title 38, 20 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 21 following new paragraphs: 22 ‘‘(4) The educational institution is approved 23 and participates in a program under title IV of the 24 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4085.IH H4085 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4085 IH seq.) or the Secretary has waived the requirement 1 under this paragraph with respect to an educational 2 institution and submits to the Committees on Vet- 3 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep- 4 resentatives notice of such waiver for each calendar 5 quarter for which such waiver applies. 6 ‘‘(5) The educational institution has agreed to 7 abide by the Principles of Excellence under Execu- 8 tive Order 13607, as in effect on the date of the en- 9 actment of this paragraph, or the Secretary has 10 waived the requirement under this paragraph with 11 respect to an educational institution and submits to 12 the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 13 and House of Representatives notice of such waiver 14 for each calendar quarter for which such waiver ap- 15 plies.’’. 16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 17 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 180 18 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 19 SEC. 4. OVERSIGHT OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 20 PLACED ON HEIGHTENED CASH MONITORING 21 STATUS BY SECRETARY OF EDUCATION. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3673 of title 38, United 23 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 24 lowing new subsection: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4085.IH H4085 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4085 IH ‘‘(e) NOTICE OF CASH MONITORING STATUS.—(1) If 1 the Secretary receives notice under paragraph (2) with re- 2 spect to an educational institution, the Secretary shall pro- 3 vide such notice to the State approving agency for the 4 State where the educational institution is located by not 5 later than 30 days after the date on which the Secretary 6 receives such notice. Not later than 60 days after receiving 7 such notice, the State approving agency shall perform a 8 risk-based oversight visit to the educational institution. 9 ‘‘(2) Notice under this paragraph is any of the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘(A) Notice from the Secretary of Education 12 that pursuant to section 487(c)(1)(B) of the Higher 13 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094) an edu- 14 cational institution is receiving payments under the 15 heightened cash monitoring payment method. 16 ‘‘(B) Notice that the Attorney General, the 17 Federal Trade Commission, or any other Federal de- 18 partment or agency has taken legal action against 19 an educational institution relating to misleading 20 marketing status or misconduct, as defined by the 21 Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 22 ‘‘(3) If a State approving agency disapproves or sus- 23 pends an educational institution, the State approving 24 agency shall provide notice of such disapproval or suspen- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4085.IH H4085 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4085 IH sion to the Secretary and to the other State approving 1 agencies. Upon receipt of notice relating to an educational 2 institution under this paragraph, a State approving agen- 3 cy shall perform a risk-based oversight visit to the edu- 4 cational institution. 5 ‘‘(4) This subsection shall be carried out using 6 amounts made available pursuant to section 3674(a)(4) 7 of this title as long as such amounts remain available.’’. 8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 9 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 180 10 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 11 SEC. 5. VERIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT FOR PURPOSES OF 12 RECEIPT OF POST-9/11 EDUCATIONAL ASSIST- 13 ANCE BENEFITS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3313 of title 38, United 15 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 16 lowing new subsection: 17 ‘‘(l) VERIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT.—The Sec- 18 retary shall require each individual who is enrolled in a 19 course or program of education and is receiving edu- 20 cational assistance under this chapter to submit to the 21 Secretary verification of such enrollment for each month 22 during which the individual is so enrolled and receiving 23 such educational assistance. Verification under this sub- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4085.IH H4085 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4085 IH section shall be in an electronic form prescribed by the 1 Secretary.’’. 2 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 3 subsection (a) shall take effect on August 1, 2020. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4085.IH H4085 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS