Rep. Calvert Testifies Before Veterans' Affairs Committee

Press Release

Today, Rep. Ken Calvert (CA-42) testified before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity regarding his bill, H.R. 331, to simplify Veterans' education benefits.

"We owe it to our veterans to remove any unnecessary, bureaucratic delays that affect their education benefits," said Rep. Calvert. "I am pleased that the Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity invited me to explain my bill and talk about how Congress can help simplify VA benefits for veterans and our colleges. I am hopeful the Committee will act soon on my bill and report it to the House floor for its consideration."

H.R. 331 would streamline the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) processes for community colleges that have multiple campuses. Currently, the VA requires community colleges to certify that their veteran students are enrolled for a specific number of classes before the VA will disperse student benefits. These rules must be updated to account for multi-college Community College Districts, such as Riverside Community College District (RCCD). Without such an update, veterans that take classes at a multi-college District see their benefits delayed while colleges and the VA complete and shuffle unnecessary paperwork. H.R. 331 would direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to permit the centralized reporting of veteran enrollment by certain groups, districts, and consortiums of educational institutions.

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