Bills would add job help to Post-9/11 GI Bill

[unhappycamper]

Bills would add job help to Post-9/11 GI Bill
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Nov 16, 2009 20:33:34 EST

Key elements of the Post-9/11 GI Bill could be modified by Congress to create benefits to help veterans find jobs.

The monthly living stipend, tied to local housing costs, makes attending college more affordable for people using the new education benefits program. A veterans’ bill passed by the House of Representatives on Nov. 2 and a bill introduced in the Senate try to use the same idea for job training.

The House-passed veterans’ training bill, HR 1168, would pay a living stipend for up to six months to veterans taking part in a Labor Department retraining program that is aimed at veterans who have been unemployed for four months or longer. Rep. John Boozman, R-Ark., the chief sponsor of what is being called the Veterans Retraining Act of 2009, said living stipends would range from $275 to $2,800 a month and would be based, like GI Bill living stipends, on the military’s basic allowance for housing for an E-5 without dependents.

Boozman’s bill also includes $5,000 for moving expenses, if needed, for veterans who complete the training and get a new job.

Three senators, Democrats Patty Murray of Washington and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Republican Mike Johanns of Nebraska, introduced a bill that would add job training and apprenticeships to the types of education covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/military_gibill_jobs_111609w/