Posts tagged Representative Glenn Nye
Nye: $750 a Month is Too Much, Too Fast
Feb 22nd
Washington, DC – Congressman Glenn Nye (VA-02) is asking the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to
ease the burden on local veterans.
Last week, the VA announced that it will ask veterans who received $3,000 emergency payments under the Post 9/11 GI Bill to begin repaying the money – at a rate of up to $750 per month. The emergency payments were issued last year to veterans whose tuition benefits from the Post 9/11 GI Bill were delayed due to processing backlogs at the VA.
On Monday, Nye sent a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, asking the VA to reduce the repayment rate from $750 per month to a rate of no more than 20% of each veteran’s monthly living stipend. For veterans receiving the lowest living stipend, this would mean a repayment amount of $132 per month.
“Asking our veterans to repay $750 a month is too much, too fast, especially when many veterans are struggling to get back on their feet after their benefit payments were delayed last fall,” said Congressman Glenn Nye. “The idea of this program is to help our veterans get ahead, not to bury them in debt and paperwork. The VA should implement a realistic repayment plan that eases the burden on our veterans so they can focus on getting a college education.”
When the Post 9/11 GI Bill program went into effect last fall, many veterans found that their tuition and living benefits were delayed for weeks or months due to extended processing backlogs. After students were forced to take out personal loans or run up credit card debt in order to pay bills while waiting for their benefit checks, the VA issued one-time, emergency payments of $3,000 to help veterans make ends meet.
These emergency payments were an advance against future benefits – not an additional bonus – and they must eventually be recouped by the VA. In mid-February, the VA announced on its web site that it would begin deducting $750 from veterans’ monthly benefit payments.
Popularity: 51% [?]
Nye Votes to Make College More Affordable for Students and Veterans
Sep 17th
Nye: “As we work to rebuild our economy, we must not leave our veterans behind”
Washington, DC –From the Office of Rep. Nye -Veterans will have an easier time attending and affording college, if a new bill
supported by Congressman Glenn Nye (VA-02) becomes law.
The bill (H.R. 3221) included provisions that will expand aid available under the new Post-9/11 GI Bill, allow servicemembers to transfer credits earned while serving in the military, and encourage colleges and universities to hire dedicated, Veterans Resource Officers to assist student veterans.
The measures were passed by a bipartisan vote of 253 to 171 as part of a larger bill designed to save money for taxpayers by reforming the student lending industry, expanding aid to students, and cutting unnecessary spending.
“Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have a 21% higher unemployment rate than the rest of the country, and as we work to rebuild our economy, we must not leave our veterans behind,” said Congressman Glenn Nye, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Veterans Affairs Committee. “This bill will help veterans to get the full benefit of the GI Bill so they can concentrate on getting a degree and finding a job.”
Congressman Nye has been fighting to help create jobs for veterans. He is the author of the Veterans Business Center Act, which will create a network of resource centers to help veterans start and run their own businesses. Nye sponsored a tax credit in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1) to give a tax cut to businesses that hire unemployed veterans. On July 2nd, he organized a Veterans Job Fair in Norfolk bringing together over 300 veterans and 24 local businesses.
The bill passed by the House today, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (H.R. 3221) is the single largest investment in aid to help students and families pay for college – and it saves taxpayers a total of $10 billion. The bill reforms the federal student lending system to cut unnecessary spending, and it uses the savings to expand Pell Grants, keep student loan interest rates low, and simplify the financial aid application process.
Background on H.R. 3221 The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009: Provisions that Will Assist Military Personnel and Veterans
Supplemental Education Grants for Veterans (Section 106)
- Right now, many veterans attending college under the Post-9/11 GI Bill may not be receiving the full benefit to which they are entitled.
- Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, veterans are eligible to receive funds in two categories: tuition and fees. However, if there is any money left over after paying the fees at a particular college, the veteran is not allowed to use those extra funds to help pay for tuition.
- Section 106 of the bill fixes this problem by creating a Supplemental Education Grant that lets veterans use any extra money from their “fees” award to pay for tuition.
- Based on information from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that up to 25,000 veterans would receive an average of an additional $9,000 in 2010 to help pay for college as a result of this bill.
Veterans Resource Officer Grants (Section 102)
- The bill also creates a grant to allow colleges and universities to hire Veterans Resource Officers to serve as advocates for student veterans on campus.
- The grants would go to colleges or universities that have at least 100 veterans as full-time students.
- The Veteran Resource Officers would serve as a liaison between student veterans and the college or university, assist student veterans in working with the Department of Veterans Affairs (including mental health services), organize veterans groups on campus, and help new student veterans transition to into their new college or university.
- This would also help create new jobs for veterans. The bill states when hiring the new Veteran Resource Officers, colleges should give preference to veterans.
Additional Measures to Assist Veterans and Military Personnel in H.R. 3221
- The bill directs the Department of Education to reserve funds for local educational agencies that serve a geographic area that contains a military installation selected for base closure.
- It allows servicemembers to transfer academic credits earned while serving in the military between institutions of higher education.
- It adds veterans to the list of priority grantees under the American Graduate Initiative and allows funds to be used to support programs that prepare students to enter careers serving veterans in the Department of Veterans Affairs.
- It grants priority for state Innovation Completion grants to entities that promote activities to increase degree or certificate completion for veterans.
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Popularity: 21% [?]
Glenn Nye Works to Protect Military, Veterans’ Health Care
Jul 15th
07/15/09
Washington, DC – As Congress debates health care policy – including how to pay for any reform plan – Congressman Glenn Nye is working to take one controversial option off the table.
Nye is currently rounding up support for a letter to Congressional leaders, insisting that veterans and military health care benefits must not be taxed or reduced to help pay for health care reform.
“We’re not going to pay for health care reform on the backs of our troops and veterans. Our military personnel and veterans earn their health care by serving our country, and it is our duty to ensure they remain intact,” said Congressman Nye, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
Nye has already backed-up his words with action. Earlier this year, he led the fight against a White House proposal to make veterans use private health insurance to pay for the treatment of service connected injuries or disabilities. The plan was scrapped after Nye organized a bipartisan group of 68 lawmakers to oppose the idea.
Although changes to veterans’ and military health care are not currently under consideration in the House or Senate drafts of the bill, Nye is adamant that such options should be taken completely off the table.
Nye’s letter reads, in part:
“Our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are key components of our economic engine who lend their unique talents and experiences to drive this nation forward. A proposal to tax their health benefits could harm them and their families in unintended, extremely serious ways, jeopardizing their families’ welfare and even negatively affecting their employment opportunities…. We therefore appeal that any health care reform policy considered by Congress respect the integrity of TRICARE and VA health care benefits and does not impose any additional taxes on or associated with these benefits.”
The letter will be sent on Thursday to the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the committees responsible for crafting health care legislation: Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Labor.
Nye has launched a health care information center for constituents to share their stories and learn more about his principles for health care reform.
Read about Glenn Nye’s efforts to protect veterans’ health care.
Text of Congressman Glenn Nye’s letter regarding veterans and military health care:
Dear Chairman Rangel, Ranking Member Camp, Chairman Waxman, Ranking Member Barton, Chairman Miller and Ranking Member Kline:
We recognize that our country is facing a health care crisis and decisive action must be taken to fix our current system. Premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage more than doubled from 2000 to 2008 and the average cost of an employer-based family insurance policy last year was $12,680. However, there have been many options on the table to pay for the various health care reform plans and it is imperative that our health care system reward – rather than rescind – the benefits of our nation’s servicemembers and veterans. As Members of Congress, we implore you not to tax our service members and veterans in order to pay for health care reform.
Regardless of party affiliation, we all agree that we must take action to reform the way health care is delivered. Skyrocketing costs and declining access have placed a heavy burden on families who are working hard to stretch already thin budgets. The House committees of jurisdiction have introduced a health care reform bill, and the Senate committees are following suit. We are concerned about the potential negative effects of limiting the tax exclusion on health benefits. Our primary concern is the impact these proposals will have on America’s veterans and servicemembers.
We believe that any health reform legislation must be fully paid for. However, it is untenable to put these costs on the backs of the men and women who are serving their country in the Armed Forces.
Our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are key components of our economic engine who lend their unique talents and experiences to drive this nation forward. A proposal to tax their health benefits could harm them and their families in unintended, extremely serious ways, jeopardizing their families’ welfare and even negatively affecting their employment opportunities. If our economy is to be strong, then we must rely on the strength of the tens of millions of servicemembers and veterans who defend our nation.
We therefore appeal that any health care reform policy considered by Congress respect the integrity of TRICARE and VA health care benefits and does not impose any additional taxes on or associated with these benefits. Any proposal that taxes the benefits of our men and women who served in uniform is not reform at all, and is something we cannot support.
If we are to continue to rely on veterans to drive our economy forward and lead our country toward recovery, we must protect their benefits as we work to protect the health of the American people. We look forward to working with you to author a health care package that is accessible and affordable for all Americans, especially our brave servicemembers and veterans.
Sincerely,
Glenn Nye
Member of Congress
Popularity: 2% [?]
Representative Nye to host Veterans job fair Tomorrow in Norfolk
Jun 26th
First Annual Hampton Roads Veterans Job Fair
07/02/09
First Annual Hampton Roads Veterans Job Fair
On Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 Congressman Glenn Nye will host his first annual Hampton Roads Veterans’ Job Fair at VFW Post 4809 in Norfolk.
The fair is intended to bring together employers in Hampton Roads with local veterans who have valuable skills and training from their military service.
The fair will feature:
- Twenty local employers, including the public and private sector, as well as staffing firms.
- Résumé counseling and interview training sessions
- Up to several hundred local veterans with valuable skills and training from their service in the military, and
- The world premiere screening of a new episode from the In Their Boots documentary series. The episode “Vets for Hire,” focuses on the stories of three veterans battling to find work after returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Congressman Nye was interviewed for the program, discussing his Veterans Business Center legislation, which recently passed the House of Representatives.
- A panel discussion of veterans employment issues with the producers of In Their Boots, representatives of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Congressman Glenn Nye.
The fair will take place on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 from 12:00 noon until 5:00 PM at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4809 at 5728 Bartee Street, Norfolk, VA 23502.
For more information, call 757-326-6201
Also, I will be in attendance on behalf of the VFW. Hope to meet you there.
-Justin
Popularity: 11% [?]
