Legislation led by Murray—daughter of a Purple Heart veteran—was inspired by a Washington state veteran who wrote into Murray’s office about a loophole in the law denying GI bill benefit transferability to certain Purple Heart veterans
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced the Purple Heart Veterans Education Act, brand-new legislation that will close a loophole that has denied some Purple Heart recipients the ability to transfer their GI bill benefits to their dependents. In 2017, Congress passed the Forever GI Bill, which incentivized servicemembers to continue serving in the military by allowing them to transfer GI bill benefits to their dependents after they completed six years of service and agreed to serve an additional four. In 2018, the Department of Defense (DoD) expanded GI Bill transferability benefits to Purple Heart recipients, allowing them to transfer GI benefits to their dependents while on active duty regardless of years of service. While this policy honors most wounded warriors, it left behind a small group of those who received their Purple Hearts after being discharged from the military. The Purple Heart Veterans Education Act would close this loophole by allowing veterans who received their Purple Heart after their service to transfer their benefits to their dependents.
“As the daughter of a Purple Heart recipient, I’ve seen firsthand the enormous sacrifices Purple Heart veterans make to defend our freedoms, and I feel strongly that we should be doing absolutely everything we can to help all veterans and their families thrive,” said Senator Murray. “It doesn’t make any sense that servicemembers who are awarded a Purple Heart after their service can’t transfer their GI benefits to their dependents, while those who receive it during their service can—and I am grateful to Pat, my constituent in Washington state who brought this gap in the law to my attention. Our legislation will close this loophole and allow more children of Purple Heart veterans to further their education. I want to thank Senator Tillis for joining me on this legislation and I’ll be working hard to get it passed into law.”
“Purple Heart recipients are heroes who honorably served our country at great costs, and this oversight that prevents servicemembers who received this distinguished award after their service from transferring their GI bill benefits to their dependents needs to be corrected immediately,” said Senator Tillis. “I am proud to co-introduce this commonsense legislation with Senator Murray to close this loophole and ensure every Purple Heart recipient and dependents are able to further their education.”
“Through no fault of service members, Purple Hearts can be awarded retroactively or after a medical discharge. As the law currently stands, veterans are denied certain educational benefits associated with the award when this happens,” said Pat, a veteran from Washington state. “I learned this the hard way when trying to transfer my GI benefits to my daughter. Because I had received my Purple Heart post-service, the benefits offered to dependents of other Purple Heart veterans were not available to her—and I know there are so many other veterans impacted by this same issue. I appreciate Senator Murray working to honor veterans’ sacrifices by remedying this consequential oversight.”
“Our nation has no more sacred obligation than taking care of its veterans, especially those who were wounded in combat. This charge extends to equitably providing them with world class health care and other life-enhancing benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, such as the GI Bill. Unfortunately, the current policy governing transferability of GI Bill benefits excludes a small group of those who received Purple Hearts after their discharge, which is why DAV fully supports the Purple Heart Veterans Education Act as it would allow veterans who received their Purple Heart after their service to transfer their benefits to their dependents. We very much appreciate Sen. Patty Murray and Sen. Thom Tillis for their leadership in introducing this important bipartisan legislation to bring equity to our nation’s most sacred heroes,” said Nancy Espinosa, National Commander, Disabled American Veterans (DAV).
“Unfortunately, not every veteran’s service and sacrifice on behalf of the United States of America is fully recognized while they’re still in uniform,” said IAVA CEO and Iraq War Veteran Allison Jaslow. “The Purple Heart Veterans Education Act ensures that those veterans who’ve endured bodily harm on behalf of our nation, but weren’t recognized for it until their service concluded, are able to turn that recognition into an investment in the education of their loved ones. IAVA applauds Senators Murray and Tillis’ leadership on behalf of those who’ve sacrificed so much for our country and their families.”
Specifically, the Purple Heart Veterans Education Act would:
- Permit an individual awarded the Purple Heart for service in the Armed Force on or after September 11, 2001, to transfer their educational benefits to one or more of their dependents.
- Allow flexibility by permitting the veteran to allocate different amounts, totaling 36 months of benefits to each of their dependents. For example, one dependent may be designated 20 months and the other 16 months.
- Protect the veteran’s right to their benefits by prohibiting the use of their educational benefits to be treated as marital property or the asset of a marital estate.
- Honor the veteran’s legacy by allowing their dependents to continue using the unused benefits after their death.
The legislation is endorsed by Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).
A one-pager on the bill can be found HERE.
The full text of the bill can be found HERE.