[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 357 Reported in House (RH)]

                                                  Union Calendar No. 66
113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 357

                          [Report No. 113-94]

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require courses of education 
 provided by public institutions of higher education that are approved 
for purposes of the educational assistance programs administered by the 
 Secretary of Veterans Affairs to charge veterans tuition and fees at 
                       the in-State tuition rate.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 23, 2013

  Mr. Miller of Florida (for himself and Mr. Michaud) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

                              June 3, 2013

 Additional sponsors: Mr. Jones, Mr. Griffin of Arkansas, Mr. Nugent, 
    Mr. Pastor of Arizona, Mr. O'Rourke, Mr. Ross, Mr. Hunter, Mrs. 
McCarthy of New York, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Collins of New 
  York, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Cole, Mr. Ruiz, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. 
LoBiondo, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Peterson, Ms. Frankel of Florida, Mr. Walz, 
Ms. Shea-Porter, Ms. Titus, Mr. Young of Alaska, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, 
Mr. Takano, Mr. Johnson of Ohio, Mr. Courtney, Mr. Honda, Mr. Stivers, 
 Mrs. Negrete McLeod, Ms. Schwartz, Mr. Bishop of New York, Mr. Carson 
 of Indiana, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Ms. Kuster, Mr. Benishek, Mr. Holt, Mr. 
 Latta, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Amodei, Mr. Runyan, Mr. Forbes, Mr. Barber, 
    Mr. Roe of Tennessee, Mr. Peters of California, Ms. Brownley of 
   California, Mrs. Walorski, Mr. Messer, Ms. Sinema, and Mr. Gerlach

                              June 3, 2013

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 
          on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 
                               23, 2013]


_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require courses of education 
 provided by public institutions of higher education that are approved 
for purposes of the educational assistance programs administered by the 
 Secretary of Veterans Affairs to charge veterans tuition and fees at 
                       the in-State tuition rate.


 


    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``GI Bill Tuition 
Fairness Act of 2013''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. References to title 38, United States Code.
Sec. 3. Approval of courses of education provided by public educational 
                            institutions for purposes of educational 
                            assistance programs administered by 
                            Secretary of Veterans Affairs conditional 
                            on in-State tuition rate for veterans.
Sec. 4. Extension of authorization of appropriations for payment of a 
                            monthly assistance allowance to disabled 
                            veterans training or competing for the 
                            Paralympic Team.
Sec. 5. Extension of authorization of appropriations for assistance to 
                            United States Paralympics, Inc.
Sec. 6. Clarification of eligibility for services under the Homeless 
                            Veterans Reintegration Program.
Sec. 7. Extension of eligibility period for vocational rehabilitation 
                            programs.
Sec. 8. Work-study allowance.
Sec. 9. Responsibilities of the Directors of Veterans' Employment and 
                            Training.
Sec. 10. Contents of Transition Assistance Program.
Sec. 11. Three-month extension of Veterans Retraining Assistance 
                            Program.
Sec. 12. Increase in rates of disability compensation and dependency 
                            and indemnity compensation.
Sec. 13. Performance awards in the senior executive service.

SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE.

    Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an 
amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or a 
repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be 
considered to be made to a section or other provision of title 38, 
United States Code.

SEC. 3. APPROVAL OF COURSES OF EDUCATION PROVIDED BY PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL 
              INSTITUTIONS FOR PURPOSES OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 
              PROGRAMS ADMINISTERED BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
              CONDITIONAL ON IN-STATE TUITION RATE FOR VETERANS.

    (a) In General.--Section 3679 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection:
    ``(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subtitle, the 
Secretary or the Secretary's designee shall disapprove a course of 
education provided by a public educational institution unless the 
institution charges tuition and fees for a veteran at up to the same 
rate as the institution charges for residents of the State in which the 
institution is located, regardless of the veteran's State of residence. 
The Secretary shall notify the State approving agency of the 
Secretary's disapproval of a course of education under this 
subsection.''.
    (b) Treatment of Enrolled Benefits Recipients.--
            (1) In general.--In the case of a veteran or eligible 
        person who is enrolled before July 1, 2015, in a course of 
        education provided by a public educational institution that was 
        approved under chapter 36 of title 38, United States Code, at 
        the time of the initial enrollment of the veteran or eligible 
        person but that is disapproved by the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs or the Secretary's designee by reason of subsection (c) 
        of section 3679 of such title, as added by subsection (a), the 
        Secretary shall treat such institution as an institution that 
        is approved under such chapter for purposes of the laws 
        administered by the Secretary with respect to the veteran or 
        eligible person until the veteran or eligible person completes 
        the program of education in which the veteran or eligible 
        person is enrolled.
            (2) Termination.--
                    (A) Limitation.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (B), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not treat 
                such an institution as an approved institution under 
                paragraph (1) after July 1, 2019.
                    (B) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the limitation 
                under subparagraph (A) if the Secretary determines such 
                a waiver is appropriate.
    (c) Effective Date.--Subsection (c) of section 3679 of title 38, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a) shall apply with respect 
to educational assistance provided after July 1, 2015.

SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR PAYMENT OF A 
              MONTHLY ASSISTANCE ALLOWANCE TO DISABLED VETERANS 
              TRAINING OR COMPETING FOR THE PARALYMPIC TEAM.

    Section 322(d)(4) is amended by striking ``2013'' and inserting 
``2018''.

SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR ASSISTANCE TO 
              UNITED STATES PARALYMPICS, INC.

    Section 521A is amended--
            (1) in subsection (g), by striking ``2013'' and inserting 
        ``2018''; and
            (2) in subsection (l), by striking ``2013'' and inserting 
        ``2018''.

SEC. 6. CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR SERVICES UNDER THE HOMELESS 
              VETERANS REINTEGRATION PROGRAM.

    Subsection (a) of section 2021 is amended by striking 
``reintegration of homeless veterans into the labor force.'' and 
inserting the following: ``reintegration into the labor force of--''
            ``(1) homeless veterans;
            ``(2) veterans participating in the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs supported housing program for which rental assistance 
        provided pursuant to section 8(o)(19) of the United States 
        Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)); and
            ``(3) veterans who are transitioning from being 
        incarcerated.''.

SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF ELIGIBILITY PERIOD FOR VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION 
              PROGRAMS.

    (a) Extension.--Section 3103 is amended by striking ``twelve-year 
period'' and inserting ``17-year period'' each place it appears.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to a veteran applying for assistance under chapter 
31 of title 38, United States Code, on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 8. WORK-STUDY ALLOWANCE.

    Section 3485(a)(4) is amended by striking ``June 30, 2013'' each 
place it appears and inserting ``June 30, 2018''.

SEC. 9. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTORS OF VETERANS' EMPLOYMENT AND 
              TRAINING.

    Section 4103 is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new 
        subsection (b):
    ``(b) Responsibilities.--Each Director assigned to a State under 
subsection (a) shall carry out the following responsibilities:
            ``(1) Monitoring the performance of veterans' training and 
        employment programs in the State, with special emphasis on 
        services to disabled veterans.
            ``(2) Monitoring the performance of the State workforce 
        agency in complying with section 4212 of this title.
            ``(3) Suggesting to the Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
        Veterans' Employment and Training corrective actions that could 
        be taken by the State workforce agency to address deficiencies 
        in the performance of veterans' training and employment 
        programs in the State.
            ``(4) Annually negotiating with the State workforce agency 
        to establish performance goals for veterans' training and 
        employment programs in the State.
            ``(5) Reviewing the State's requests for funding for 
        veterans' training and employment programs and providing advice 
        to the State workforce agency and the Assistant Secretary 
        regarding such funding requests.
            ``(6) Forwarding complaints regarding possible violations 
        of chapter 43 of this title to the appropriate Regional 
        Administrator or to the to the Assistant Secretary, as 
        required.
            ``(7) Carrying out grant officer technical representative 
        responsibilities for grants issued under programs administered 
        by the Department.
            ``(8) Providing advice to the State workforce agency on 
        strategies to market veterans to employers.
            ``(9) Supervising and managing all support staff, including 
        Assistant Directors, establishing workload priorities, managing 
        all personnel actions, and evaluating all assigned personnel.
            ``(10) Submitting to the Assistant Secretary regular 
        reports on the matters described in paragraphs (1), (2), (4), 
        and (8), and any other matters the Assistant Secretary 
        determine appropriate.
            ``(11) Performing such other related duties as directed by 
        the Assistant Secretary.''.

SEC. 10. CONTENTS OF TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 1144 of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following 
        new paragraph:
            ``(9) Provide information about disability-related 
        employment and education protections.''.
            (2) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and (e), as 
        subsections (d), (e), and (f), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new 
        subsection (c):
    ``(c) Additional Elements of Program.--The mandatory program 
carried out by this section shall include--
            ``(1) for any such member who plans to use the member's 
        entitlement to educational assistance under title 38--
                    ``(A) instruction providing an overview of the use 
                of such entitlement; and
                    ``(B) testing to determine academic readiness for 
                post-secondary education, courses of post-secondary 
                education appropriate for the member, courses of post-
                secondary education compatible with the member's 
                education goals, and instruction on how to finance the 
                member's post-secondary education; and
            ``(2) instruction in the benefits under laws administered 
        by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and in other subjects 
        determined by the Secretary concerned.''.
    (b) Deadline for Implementation.--The program carried out under 
section 1144 of title 10, United States Code, shall comply with the 
requirements of subsections (b)(9) and (c) of such section, as added by 
subsection (a), by not later than April 1, 2015.
    (c) Feasibility Study.--Not later than 270 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House 
of Representatives the results of a study carried out by the Secretary 
to determine the feasibility of providing the instruction described in 
subsection (b) of section 1142 of title 10, United States Code, at all 
overseas locations where such instruction is provided by entering into 
a contract jointly with the Secretary of Labor for the provision of 
such instruction.

SEC. 11. THREE-MONTH EXTENSION OF VETERANS RETRAINING ASSISTANCE 
              PROGRAM.

    (a) Extension.--Section 211 of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 
(Public Law 112-56; 125 Stat. 713; 38 U.S.C. 4100 note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2)(B), by striking ``March 31, 2014'' 
        and inserting ``June 30, 2014''; and
            (2) in subsection (k), by striking ``March 31, 2014'' and 
        inserting ``June 30, 2014''.
    (b) Interim Report.--
            (1) Report required.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs, in collaboration with the Secretary of Labor, shall 
        submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an interim 
        report on the retraining assistance provided under section 211 
        of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-56; 125 
        Stat. 713; 38 U.S.C. 4100 note).
            (2) Elements.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall 
        include the following:
                    (A) The total number of--
                            (i) eligible veterans who have participated 
                        in the program established under such section 
                        as of the date of the enactment of this Act; 
                        and
                            (ii) associates degrees or certificates 
                        awarded (or other similar evidence of the 
                        completion of the program of education or 
                        training earned) to veterans participating in 
                        the program established under such section as 
                        of such date.
                    (B) Data related to the employment status of 
                eligible veterans who participated in such program.

SEC. 12. INCREASE IN RATES OF DISABILITY COMPENSATION AND DEPENDENCY 
              AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION.

    (a) Rate Adjustment.--Effective on December 1, 2013, the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs shall increase, in accordance with subsection (c), 
the dollar amounts in effect on November 30, 2013, for the payment of 
disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation under 
the provisions specified in subsection (b).
    (b) Amounts To Be Increased.--The dollar amounts to be increased 
pursuant to subsection (a) are the following:
            (1) Wartime disability compensation.--Each of the dollar 
        amounts under section 1114 of title 38, United States Code.
            (2) Additional compensation for dependents.--Each of the 
        dollar amounts under section 1115(1) of such title.
            (3) Clothing allowance.--The dollar amount under section 
        1162 of such title.
            (4) Dependency and indemnity compensation to surviving 
        spouse.--Each of the dollar amounts under subsections (a) 
        through (d) of section 1311 of such title.
            (5) Dependency and indemnity compensation to children.--
        Each of the dollar amounts under sections 1313(a) and 1314 of 
        such title.
    (c) Determination of Increase.--
            (1) Percentage.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), each 
        dollar amount described in subsection (b) shall be increased by 
        the same percentage as the percentage by which benefit amounts 
        payable under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        401 et seq.) are increased effective December 1, 2012, as a 
        result of a determination under section 215(i) of such Act (42 
        U.S.C. 415(i)).
            (2) Rounding.--Each dollar amount increased under paragraph 
        (1), if not a whole dollar amount, shall be rounded to the next 
        lower whole dollar amount.
    (d) Special Rule.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may adjust 
administratively, consistent with the increases made under subsection 
(a), the rates of disability compensation payable to persons under 
section 10 of Public Law 85-857 (72 Stat. 1263) who have not received 
compensation under chapter 11 of title 38, United States Code.
    (e) Publication of Adjusted Rates.--The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall publish in the Federal Register the amounts specified in 
subsection (b), as increased under that section, not later than the 
date on which the matters specified in section 215(i)(2)(D) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)(2)(D)) are required to be 
published by reason of a determination made under section 215(i) of 
such Act during fiscal year 2014.

SEC. 13. PERFORMANCE AWARDS IN THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE.

    For each of fiscal years 2014 through 2018, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs may not pay any performance awards under section 5384 
of title 5, United States Code.
            Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to amend title 38, 
        United States Code, to require courses of education provided by 
        public institutions of higher education that are approved for 
        purposes of the educational assistance programs administered by 
        the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to charge veterans tuition 
        and fees at the in-State tuition rate, to make other 
        improvements in the laws relating to benefits administered by 
        the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.''.
                                                  Union Calendar No. 66

113th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 357

                          [Report No. 113-94]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require courses of education 
 provided by public institutions of higher education that are approved 
for purposes of the educational assistance programs administered by the 
 Secretary of Veterans Affairs to charge veterans tuition and fees at 
                       the in-State tuition rate.

_______________________________________________________________________

                              June 3, 2013

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 
          on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed