Senate Clears REMOTE Act, Amending Isakson-Roe Veterans Bill
By Hugh T. Ferguson, NASFAA Senior Staff Reporter
With little fanfare, the Senate cleared the Responsible Education Mitigating Options and Technical Extensions (REMOTE) Act, a bipartisan measure seeking to ensure student veterans retain access to higher education benefits.
The bill is aimed at making key technical improvements to the Isakson-Roe Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act and includes changes to help institutions satisfy the Isakson-Roe bill’s consumer information requirements by using the College Financing Plan template and ensures student veterans can continue to receive their education benefits, in addition to extending some coronavirus-related flexibilities previously granted to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amid the pandemic.
Student veterans taking online classes during the pandemic were facing huge cuts to their VA housing stipends, so I passed a bill to protect them. Now veterans can have the peace of mind that they won't lose benefits just because they're learning remotely. https://t.co/p7k4wZYqJp
— Senator Cortez Masto (@SenCortezMasto) December 16, 2021
The technical corrections contained within the legislation would also extend remote learning waivers, simplify the VA verification process for tuition reimbursement, and fix a technical error in current law to ensure U.S. institutions of higher education can continue to recruit foreign students without losing G.I. bill funding for their students.
“We are pleased to see this NASFAA-supported bill has passed the Senate,” said Karen McCarthy, NASFAA vice president of public policy and federal relations. “By extending certain COVID-related flexibilities, it ensures that student veterans have continuing support they need during the pandemic. It also makes improvements to the consumer disclosure requirements in the Isakson-Roe bill that will reduce confusion for students and administrative burden for institutions.”
The bill now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for his expected signature.
Publication Date: 12/17/2021
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