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Related: About this forumMilitary Tuition Assistance Funding Reinstated By Congress
Military Tuition Assistance Funding Reinstated By Congress
WASHINGTON -- Congress voted to protect the military's popular Tuition Assistance program on Thursday, directing the Defense Department to find money to fund it.
After sequestration's steep budget cuts hit the federal government, the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marine Corps all announced that they would be suspending TA, which provides up to $4,500 per year for service members to continue their education.
The move sparked an uproar from members of the military, veterans and lawmakers.
On Thursday, the House approved a continuing resolution to keep the government running. It included an amendment -- first introduced by Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) -- barring the armed services from cutting all funding for the TA program. It instructs the Pentagon to find money elsewhere in its budget for the education assistance. The measure was also approved by the Senate on Wednesday.
"I'm pleased the House has passed my bipartisan amendment with Senator Inhofe to restore Tuition Assistance as part of the continuing resolution," Hagan said in a statement to The Huffington Post. "I look forward to the President signing this legislation into law so we can keep our commitment to our service members. The brave men and women who serve in uniform have never given up on our country, and now we have signaled that we won't give up on them."
-snip-
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/military-tuition-assistance_n_2924526.html
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Military Tuition Assistance Funding Reinstated By Congress (Original Post)
Tx4obama
Mar 2013
OP
Cynical politics. I find it odd that they're worried more about tuition benefits
TwilightGardener
Mar 2013
#2
elleng
(130,908 posts)1. This is big, Tx4,
and means they can decide to ignore sequestration effects when it suits them.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)2. Cynical politics. I find it odd that they're worried more about tuition benefits
than military readiness in a time of war. Guess even the Repubs are now admitting that the Pentagon could be cut drastically with no effect on our defense. Interesting.
dsc
(52,162 posts)4. actually it is a readiness issue
just how hard would you work for a boss which publicly breaks his promise to you about what he is going to pay you. That is what eliminating that program represented a huge fuck you to both our veterans and our future veterans (aka our soldiers)
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)3. UPDATE: Military Tuition Assistance Restored By Pentagon
03/28/2013
Military Tuition Assistance Restored By Pentagon
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon on Wednesday restored its popular tuition assistance program after suspending it due to sequestration's budget cuts. The move came after Congress approved legislation last week requiring the Defense Department to do so.
"Based on the legislation that just passed, tuition assistance is to be reinstated across the services," Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright said in a statement. "DoD agrees with Congress that the tuition assistance program is very important, both to the department and our service members. Each service is responsible for funding and administering its tuition assistance program in accordance with the DoD tuition assistance policy. We are working with the services to develop a plan to comply with any legislation."
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The Pentagon's announcement applies to the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps. The Coast Guard operates under the Department of Homeland Security, and Inhofe and Hagan's amendment applies only to the Pentagon. Therefore, the Coast Guard program remains suspended for now.
Stars and Stripes reported that military officials are still figuring out details of when tuition assistance will resume, as they look for other areas to cut in order to restore the funds.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/28/military-tuition-assistance_n_2974578.html