A bill to protect the entitlement of individuals to Post-9/11 Educational Assistance who discontinue pursuit of a program of education during the national emergency relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes.

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3925 To protect the entitlement of individuals to Post-9/11 Educational Assistance who discontinue pursuit of a program of education during the national emergency relating to the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 9, 2020 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To protect the entitlement of individuals to Post-9/11 Edu- cational Assistance who discontinue pursuit of a program of education during the national emergency relating to the COVID–19 pandemic, 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. PROTECTION OF ENTITLEMENT TO POST-9/11 3 EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE DURING COVID– 4 19 PANDEMIC. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any payment of educational as- 6 sistance described in subsection (b) shall not— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3925.IS S3925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3925 IS (1) be charged against any entitlement to edu- 1 cational assistance of the individual under chapter 2 33 of title 38, United States Code, including entitle- 3 ment to benefits under section 3320 of such title; or 4 (2) be counted against the aggregate period for 5 which section 3695 of such title limits the receipt of 6 educational assistance by such individual. 7 (b) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE DESCRIBED.—Sub- 8 ject to subsection (d), the payment of educational assist- 9 ance described in this subsection is the payment of such 10 assistance to an individual for pursuit of a course or 11 courses under such chapter if the individual— 12 (1) discontinued such course pursuit for any 13 reason during the COVID–19 pandemic period de- 14 scribed in subsection (c); and 15 (2) failed to receive credit or lost training time 16 toward completion of the program of education being 17 so pursued. 18 (c) COVID–19 PANDEMIC PERIOD DESCRIBED.— 19 The COVID–19 pandemic period described in this sub- 20 section is the period beginning on the date of the com- 21 mencement of the national emergency declared by the 22 President under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 23 1601 et seq.) with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3925.IS S3925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3925 IS 2019 (COVID–19) and ending on the date that is the ear- 1 lier of— 2 (1) the date on which the President revokes 3 such declaration; and 4 (2) the date on which such national emergency 5 expires. 6 (d) PERIOD NOT CHARGED.—The period for which, 7 by reason of this section, educational assistance is not 8 charged against entitlement or counted toward the appli- 9 cable aggregate period under section 3695 of this title 10 shall not exceed the aggregate of— 11 (1) the portion of the period of enrollment in 12 the course or courses from which the individual did 13 not receive credit or with respect to which the indi- 14 vidual lost training time, as determined under sub- 15 section (b)(2); and 16 (2) the period by which a monthly stipend is ex- 17 tended under subsection (e). 18 (e) CONTINUED PAYMENT OF SUBSISTENCE ALLOW- 19 ANCE.—Notwithstanding section 3680(a)(1) of such title, 20 the Secretary may, pursuant to such regulations as the 21 Secretary shall prescribe, continue to pay allowances to 22 eligible persons enrolled in courses described in subsection 23 (b) solely for the purpose of awarding a monthly housing 24 stipend described in section 3313 of such title or section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3925.IS S3925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3925 IS 116(d) of Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assist- 1 ance Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–48; 38 U.S.C. 3001 2 note), during periods following the discontinuation of a 3 course or courses pursuit described in subsection (b)(1), 4 except that payment of such stipend may only continue 5 until the earlier of— 6 (1) the date of the end of the term, quarter, or 7 semester during which the discontinuation occurred; 8 and 9 (2) the date that is 28 days after the date of 10 the discontinuation. 11 (f) ADDITIONAL RELIEF.— 12 (1) TUTORIAL ASSISTANCE.—Any amount re- 13 ceived under section 3314 of such title for tutorial 14 assistance under such section that was discontinued 15 during the COVID–19 pandemic period described in 16 subsection (c) because of the national emergency de- 17 scribed in such subsection shall not count toward the 18 aggregate amount under subsection (c) of such sec- 19 tion. 20 (2) ASSISTANCE FOR RELOCATION OR TRAV- 21 EL.—Any amount received under section 3318 of 22 such title if the amount was paid during— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3925.IS S3925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3925 IS (A) the academic term of a course that 1 was discontinued as described in subsection 2 (b)(1); 3 (B) the 30-day period immediately pre- 4 ceding such academic term; or 5 (C) the 30-day period immediately fol- 6 lowing such academic term. 7 (3) TESTS.—Educational assistance received 8 under section 3315 or 3315A of such title for a test 9 that the Secretary finds could not be taken because 10 of the national emergency described in subsection (c) 11 shall not be charged against entitlement under sec- 12 tion 3315(c) or section 3315A(c) of such title, re- 13 spectively. 14 (g) WAIVER OF CERTAIN REGULATION.—Section 15 21.7020(b)(19)(ii) of title 38, Code of Federal Regula- 16 tions, as in effect on the day before the date of the enact- 17 ment of this Act, shall not apply to any discontinuation 18 or withdrawal described in this section. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3925.IS S3925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS