H.R. 7939

Veterans Auto and Education Improvement Act of 2022

This act modifies provisions related to programs and benefits for veterans, including by providing permanent authority for the application of certain flexibilities to assist veterans with their educational assistance benefits during emergency situations. An emergency situation is defined as a situation that the President declares as an emergency and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) determines is an emergency for purposes of the laws it administers.

Specifically, the act extends certain program adjustments that were implemented during the COVID-19 emergency (including adjustments made in the Student Veteran Coronavirus Response Act of 2020) to other emergency situations that may arise and have an effect on veterans and their educational assistance benefits.

Among other flexibilities, the act (1) authorizes the VA to continue to provide educational assistance, including monthly housing stipends or subsistence allowances, for programs of education that have been converted to distance learning due to an emergency or health-related situation; and (2) extends the time limitation for using educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill, Post-9/11 GI Bill, or vocational rehabilitation program when institutions are closed due to an emergency situation or executive order.

Due to an emergency situation, the VA is authorized to

• extend by two months the payment of vocational rehabilitation subsistence allowances,
• continue paying work-study allowances and extend work-study agreements, and
• continue paying educational assistance and subsistence allowances for a specified amount of time for programs of education that are suspended or closed.

This act also adjusts the administration of certain benefits for veterans participating in an apprenticeship or other on-job training during an emergency situation, including by proportionately reducing the 120-hour monthly training requirement to reflect an individual's period of unemployment without a reduction in training assistance.

An educational assistance payment shall not be charged against an individual's entitlement to educational assistance if an individual was unable to complete a course or program due to the temporary closure of an educational institution or the temporary termination of a program by reason of an emergency situation.

The act provides the requirements that must be met for a study-abroad course to be approved for purposes of VA educational assistance.

The act provides eligibility for Post-9/11 GI Bill educational assistance for individuals, including officers, who are discharged or released from active duty with a sole survivorship discharge following at least 30 continuous days on qualifying active duty after September 10, 2001.

The VA must partner with state approving agencies, educational institutions, and training establishments to require the use of a uniform application for the VA's course approval process. The uniform application must be developed by October 1, 2023, and be required for the approval of any new course of education proposed on or after that day.

The act provides notice requirements for VA education surveys. Specifically, the VA or a state approving agency must provide not more than one business day of notice to an educational institution before conducting a targeted risk-based survey. The VA or state approving agency must provide not more than 10 business days of notice to an educational institution or training establishment before conducting a compliance survey.

Under the act, educational institutions are excepted from the requirement to verify the enrollment of certain individuals who are receiving VA educational assistance (e.g., individuals who are enrolled in a program on at least a full-time basis before they are able to withdraw from the course without penalty).

The act expands eligibility for self-employment assistance under the Veteran Readiness and Employment Program to include certain veterans who have a service-connected disability or employment handicap in addition to those with the most severe service-connected disabilities.

The VA must report on possible definitions for student services, marketing, and classroom instruction for purposes of VA educational assistance.

The act extends through November 30, 2031, certain limitations on pension payments to veterans who have no dependents and are being furnished domiciliary care by the VA.

The act authorizes a servicemember to terminate specified contracts (e.g., contracts for commercial mobile service or internet service) that are entered into in relation to military orders for a permanent change of station if the member then receives a stop movement order in response to a local, national, or global emergency which prevents the member from using the services provided under the contract.

The act provides that a spouse of a servicemember may retain their personal residence or domicile for purposes of taxation. Under the act, a servicemember and the spouse of the member are authorized to elect to use the following locations for purposes of taxation:

• the residence or domicile of the member,
• the residence or domicile of the spouse, or
• the permanent duty station of the member.

The act provides for the portability of professional licenses of servicemembers and their spouses who are relocated, because of military orders, outside of the jurisdiction that issued the license.

The act authorizes the VA to provide non-articulating trailers (adaptive equipment) to veterans with specified disabilities or diseases incurred or aggravated due to their military service.

The act authorizes the VA to provide (or assist in providing) an eligible veteran or servicemember with an additional automobile or other conveyance under the VA automobile allowance and adaptive equipment program if (1) more than 30 years have elapsed since the person last received such benefit; or (2) beginning 10 years after the date of this act, if more than 10 years have elapsed since the person last received such benefit.

Finally, the act includes certain vehicle modifications (e.g., van lifts) under the definition of medical services for VA health care purposes.