There is currently a new initiative gaining momentum in the U.S. Congress to provide financial assistance for the college tuition of dependents of Purple Heart recipients.
Channel 2’s Washington Correspondent, Candice Cole, is in Washington to provide the details on how this initiative will be beneficial for the families of veterans.
A bipartisan initiative aims to prevent the GI benefits of veterans who were awarded a Purple Heart after their military service from being wasted.
Senators Patty Murray (D-Washington) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) have introduced the Purple Heart Veterans Education Act, which aims to enable the dependents of all Purple Heart recipients to utilize the GI bill for college expenses.
The legislation, if approved, would address the shortcomings of the Isakson and Roe Act, which was enacted in 2021. Currently, only active duty Purple Heart recipients are eligible to transfer the education benefit to their dependents.
Shane Liermann, Deputy National Legislative Director for Benefits of the Disabled American Veterans, emphasized that the proposed legislation aims to address the oversight of excluding individuals who were awarded the Purple Heart after they left military service.
The bill applies to Purple Heart recipients who have been awarded on or after September 11, 2001.
Transferring GI bill benefits to multiple dependents and allocating different amounts to be utilized over a span of 36 months would be facilitated by this provision.
According to Liermann, a spokesperson for Channel 2 Action News, there are numerous veterans who receive the Purple Heart award after their military service for various reasons. Liermann believes that this change will have a significant impact on thousands of veterans and their families.
In 2017, Congress introduced the Forever GI Bill as a means of motivating service members to continue their military service.
