Earlier today, Congressman Buck McKeon  made the following statement concerning an agreement made by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to make a technical fix to the post 9/11- GI Bill that will allow California veterans to receive their full educational benefit:

“After months of work to ensure California veterans would receive the full educational benefit they earned and deserve, I am incredibly pleased to announce that Veterans Affairs is taking an important first step to fixing the California glitch and restoring some equity for our veterans.  The formula still creates disproportions for veterans from different states, and that is something that should be addressed going forward.

“My gratitude goes to Rep. Mike Thompson, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, staff, college administrators, and the veterans who all made this possible.”

In mid-July, McKeon successfully included an amendment during an Education and Labor Committee markup of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (H.R. 3221) to require the Secretary of Education to provide tuition grants to make up for the Post 9/11 GI bill’s California glitch.  Earlier in the year, McKeon also introduced the bipartisan Veterans Educational Equity Act (H.R. 2474) to help ease the disparity in education funding for veterans.