G I Bill Amendments Act of 1979

(Measure indefinitely postponed in Senate, H. R. 5288 passed in Lieu)

G.I. Bill Amendments Act of 1980 - =Title I: G.I. Bill Rate Increases= - Increases by 15 percent, effective September 1, 1980, veterans' payments for: (1) vocational rehabilitation; (2) educational assistance, including flight training; (3) survivors' and dependents' educational assistance, including special restorative training; and (4) correspondence courses, on-the-job training, and education loans.

=Title II: G.I. Bill Program Adjustments= - Amends the Veterans Readjustment Benefits Act of 1966 to require an eligible veteran seeking to extend the delimiting period for educational assistance because of a physical or mental disability to apply within one year of: (1) the termination of the disability period; (2) the last date of the delimiting period otherwise applicable; or (3) the effective date of this Act, whichever is the latest.

Resumes running of the extended delimiting period on the first date following a veteran's recovery from disability on which it is reasonably feasible for such veteran to initiate or resume pursuit of a program of education with educational assistance. States that an alcohol or drug dependence or abuse disability from which the veteran has recovered shall not be considered to be the result of willful misconduct.

Authorizes an extension through December 31, 1982 of educational assistance to Vietnam-era veterans in order to permit them to pursue: (1) a program of apprenticeship or other on-job training; or (2) an approved vocational objective or secondary education course if such veteran does not have a secondary school diploma (or equivalency certificate). Disallows any such program consisting exclusively of flight training. Requires the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to pay an educational allowance for any period of education or training completed by any veteran between May 31, 1976, and the publication date of specified regulations if: (1) the delimiting period has been extended under this Title; and (2) the educational assistance allowance would have been payable otherwise had such veteran made timely application for it.

Requires educational and vocational counseling prior to the grant of educational assistance to any veteran for any program leading to a vocational objective or a secondary school diploma (or equivalency certificate) which is pursued within three years of the expiration date of such veteran's delimiting period. Requires such counseling promptly after his or her application for assistance. Authorizes a counselor to disapprove an application if he determines that such veteran's proposed program is not reasonably designed to lead to a high school diploma (or equivalency certificate) or to reasonable prospects for future employment. Requires review of any such disapproval within 90 days unless the veteran selects a different program of education.

Directs the Administrator to advise each veteran that, upon request, such counseling will continue to be made available until the completion of his or her educational or training objective.

Authorizes the Administrator to disapprove an application for educational benefits under this Act on the basis of the current general enrollment provisions relating to veterans' educational benefits administration.

Revises the current test for approval of vocational courses for eligible veterans (which requires that at least 50 percent of the persons completing such a course over the preceding two-year period, and who are not unavailable for employment, actually attain employment in an occupational category for which the course was designed to provide training) to require further that: (1) at least 50 percent of those who enrolled in such course over such period completed it; and (2) the employment attained constitutes the primary vocational pursuit and major source of occupational income of each such person. Exempts from these requirements any course in an educational institution whose total number of eligible veterans and eligible persons during the two-year period preceding the year in question did not exceed 35 percent of the total enrollment, and whose record of meeting such requirements during any two-year period following the enactment of this Act has been good. Authorizes waiver of these requirements also for any course with a vocational objective where such requirements would work an undue administrative hardship on the educational institution because of the small proportion of eligible veterans and eligible persons.

Eliminates as a condition required for approval of the enrollment of a veteran in a course pursued by open circuit television or radio, that the major portion of the course requires conventional classroom or laboratory attendance.

Prohibits the Administrator from requiring any educational institution, in complying with the 85-15 rule, to compute the number of Basic Educational Opportunity Grant (BEOG) or Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) recipients enrolled in such institution, unless: (1) the Administrator determines that their inclusion in the computation is desirable, necessary, and feasible; (2) the Administrator has notified the appropriate congressional committees of such determination; and (3) 90 days have elapsed since notification of such committees.

Eliminates the current course completion time factor from the determination of an eligible veteran's satisfactory academic progress.

Permits receipt of educational benefits by veterans attending foreign institutions under certain circumstances.

Specifies a new formula for the computation of educational assistance to veterans pursuing a standard college degree by combining an independent study program with resident training.

Sets forth the method of computing the educational assistance allowance of a veteran: (1) pursuing a course in part by open circuit television; and (2) who is incarcerated in a Federal, State, or local prison or jail.

Limits the assistance allowance paid a veteran without a high school diploma (or equivalency certificate), who is enrolled in an appropriate course, to the cost of tuition and fees, or the full-time institutional rate, whichever is lesser.

=Title III: Survivors' and Dependents' Program Adjustments= - Applies to the educational assistance program for survivors and dependents certain revisions identical with provisions in Title I of this Act with respect to veterans, including: (1) the procedure for extending the delimiting date for assistance because of a physical or mental disability; (2) the payment of any educational allowance for any period of education or training completed by any eligible person between May 31, 1976, and the publication date of specified regulations; (3) the applicability of general enrollment provisions to the survivors' and dependents' program; (4) the test for approval of vocational courses; (5) the requirements with respect to courses pursued by television or radio; (6) elimination of the course completion time factor from the determination of an eligible person's satisfactory academic progress; (7) the methods of computing certain allowances; and (8) receipt of assistance at foreign institutions.

Authorizes the making of advance allowance payments to eligible persons.

=Title IV: Amendments to Administrative Provisions= - Stipulates that educational assistance shall be paid only for the actual period of pursuit of a subject (instead of the period of enrollment as currently provided).

Requires prompt reporting to the Administrator of enrollment in a course and any interruption or termination by the veteran or eligible person concerned as well as by the educational institution offering such course.

Directs the Administrator, prior to paying any reporting fee to an educational institution, to require such institution to certify that it has exercised reasonable diligence in determining whether it, and any of its courses which are approved for veteran enrollment, meet all the applicable requirements of the veterans' and survivors' and dependents' educational assistance programs.

Provides that the amount of an overpayment to an eligible person or veteran shall constitute a liability of such individual.

Limits the full-time measurement standard with respect to institutional undergraduate courses leading to a standard college degree to: (1) only those courses the educational institution considers full-time; (2) only courses less than 50 percent of whose enrolled students are receiving veterans' or survivors' and dependents' educational assistance; and (3) only those courses offered in residence, which are treated the same as other courses offered at such institution which qualify as full-time courses, except that the number of hours of regularly scheduled weekly class instruction required for the courses concerned is less than required for such other courses. Modifies current formulae for the computation of the assistance allowance for such courses.

Limits the current provision which reduces the number of clock hours of attendance required for payment of benefits for certain courses to courses accredited by nationally recognized accrediting agencies.

Includes in the limitations on periods of educational assistance under two or more VA programs the Post-Vietnam Veterans' Educational Assistance Program.

=Title V: Modifications of Flight and Correspondence Training Provisions= - Reduces the portion of the charge for a flight training course paid by the Veterans' Administration from 90 percent to 60 percent. Makes veterans pursuing flight training eligible for education loans. Directs the Administrator to cancel the repayment obligation under such a loan, or reimburse for repayments already made, or both, as appropriate, if: (1) a veteran has successfully completed such program and secured employment as a pilot or in a closely related occupation; and (2) such employment constitutes such veteran's primary vocational pursuit and major source of occupational income. Requires cancellation, when such terms are met, of $1,000 of the repayment obligation after a veteran's first full year of such employment during the first five years after completion of flight training. Requires cancellation of additional $250 amounts for every additional three-month period of such employment during such five-year period.

Limits the authorization of correspondence training to eligible veterans, spouses, and surviving spouses for whom the Administrator determines that no other type of training is reasonably and feasibly available for successful pursuit of the vocational objective sought.

=Title VI: Post-Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance Program Adjustments, Repeal of Authority to Pursue Predischarge Education Program (PREP) Training Under Chapter 32, and Related Amendments= - Makes eligible for participation in the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance Program certain persons who entered military service on or after January 1, 1977, after having served on active duty before or after such date for a period of 180 days or less and were discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.

Makes Veterans' Administration educational and vocational counseling services available, upon request, to participants in the Post-Vietnam Era program.

Terminates the Predischarge Education Program (PREP), which provides educational assistance, without charge to their G.I. Bill entitlement, to service persons prior to their discharge or release from active duty with the Armed Forces.

Makes participants in the Post-Vietnam Era program eligible for educational assistance to pursue programs of secondary education (high school or equivalency courses, but not special refresher, deficiency, or preparatory courses) at no charge to their entitlement during the last six months of the first enlistments or at any time thereafter. Makes active-duty service personnel eligible for regular veterans' educational assistance, also eligible for the same secondary education benefits (but not for special refresher, deficiency, or preparatory courses).

=Title VII: Protection for Certain Employees of the Veterans' Administration= - Makes it a Federal offense to kill an officer or employee of the Veterans' Administration who is performing investigative or law enforcement functions.

=Title VIII: Veterans' Employment Assistance Adjustments= - Defines "eligible veteran" for purposes of veterans' job counseling, training, and placement benefits, and for disabled and Vietnam era veterans' employment and training benefits as one who: (1) served on active-duty for more than 180 days and received other than a dishonorable discharge; or (2) received a service-connected disability discharge.

Defines "veteran of the Vietnam era" for purposes of such benefits as one: (1) who served on active-duty in Vietnam; and (2) whose veterans' educational benefits delimiting period has been expired for no more than two years (or would not have expired if eligible for such benefits). Excludes from such definition non-disabled officers who retired at the rank of major or above.

Defines "special disabled veteran" for purposes of such benefits as one who: (1) is entitled to veterans' disability compensation for a disability rated at 30 percent or more; or (2) received a service-connected disability discharge.

Defines "disabled veteran" for purposes of disabled veterans' training and employment benefits as one who: (1) is entitled to veterans' disability compensation; or (2) received a service-connected disability discharge.

Requires the Secretary of Labor to include numerical breakdowns of such veterans' categories in his annual veterans' training report to Congress.

Makes a qualifying Vietnam veteran eligible for Federal contract priority-hiring for at least two years.

Includes the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariannas Islands within the definition of "State" for purposes of veterans' job counseling, training, and placement services.

Requires the Secretary of Labor to assure that any veteran made ineligible for certain veterans' job counseling and placement assistance by provisions of this Act (defining categories of eligible veterans) shall be provided with employment assistance and related services under other applicable provisions of law.

Elevates the office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment to that of the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment.

Requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to include separate statistics concerning veterans who served in Vietnam, in air missions over Vietnam, or in naval missions in waters adjacent to Vietnam, when publishing statistics relating specifically to Vietnam era veteran's.

=Title IX: Disclosures of Certain Information By the Veterans' Administration= - Authorizes the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to disclose to a consumer reporting agency the name and address of an individual indebted the Veterans' Administration (VA) for the purpose of obtaining consumer reports in order to assess such individual's ability to repay the debt and give notice of the outstanding obligation. Prohibits: (1) the VA from disclosing other information that would create a substantial risk of implying an individual's indebtedness to the United States or otherwise affecting his or her credit standing; and (2) the credit reporting agency from indicating in its reports or files that such VA inquiry indicates any indebtedness by such individual (willful violation punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 for the first offense and up to $20,000 for a subsequent offense).

Authorizes the disclosure of an individual's name, address, and other identifying information necessary to locate his or her in order to carry out specified VA evaluation studies. Requires the Administrator to make a pre-disclosure determination that the inclusion of a particular individual in such study is clearly warranted, and would not create a substantial risk to such individual's credit rating. Establishes other disclosure requirements similar to those for indebtedness disclosures.

Authorizes the disclosure of information affecting an individual's credit rating (name, address, indebtedness) if such individual has failed to respond to administrative debt-collection efforts. Requires the VA, before making such indebtedness disclosures, to: (1) notify an individual of the information to be disclosed, and to which credit agencies, at least 60 days prior to such disclosure; (2) inform the individual of his or her right to dispute the debt claim and provide an opportunity to do so; and (3) make a determination regarding any such disputed debt.

Requires the VA to notify any credit agencies to which it has made disclosures of any change in the status or amount of a debt.

Deems debt-delinquency information "inaccurate" (authorizing a challenge and reinvestigation under the Fair Credit Reporting Act) upon a showing by an individual of non-notification by the VA of indebtedness or right to dispute a debt claim. Requires the VA to so notify the individual and any involved credit agencies.

Exempts a credit agency's handling of such VA debt disclosures from the Privacy Act.

Defines "consumer report", "file", and "consumer reporting agency" for purposes of this Act.

=Title X: Nursing Home Responsibility and Agent Orange Study= - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (formerly, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare), and the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to submit a joint report to Congress) by August 30, 1980, concerning the enforcement of nursing home quality and safety standards. States that such report shall: (1) identify the optimum method for coordinating enforcement in a single Federal agency; (2) identify necessary legislative and regulatory changes; and (3) establish a timetable for such coordination beginning no later than January 1, 1981, and ending by January 1, 1982.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (formerly) the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare) to conduct a study of veterans and other groups of people exposed to the herbicides known as "Agent Orange" to determine if there may be adverse health effects from such exposure. States that such study shall be conducted in accordance with a protocol approved by the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment. Directs the Secretary to conduct a review and analysis of other studies concerning exposure to such herbicides. Requires the Secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees concerning such studies.

States that in order to assure that any Federal study of "agent orange" exposure is objective and valid, the President shall make certain that: (1) such exposure study is coordinated with any other similar Federal studies; and (2) appropriate coordination for such study is arranged between and among the Secretary and heads of other Federal agencies or instrumentalities.

=Title XI: Technical Amendments and Effective Dates= - Makes technical amendments and sets forth various exemptions and effective dates under this Act.