BY BOB BREWIN, BBREWIN@GOVEXEC.COM
The Veterans Affairs Department has asked the Navy to develop a computer system to process the complex claims for educational benefits that veterans will file under the new GI bill President Bush signed into law in June.
Comment on this article in The Forum.In an Oct. 17 letter sent to the House and Senate VA committees, and obtained by Nextgov, VA Secretary James Peake wrote that the agency has hired the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in Charleston, S.C., to build a system to process educational benefits for veteran as outlined in the 2008 GI bill. The bill, called the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, was part of the 2008 Supplemental Appropriations Act that provided veterans with expanded educational benefits. For example, the bill hikes payments for tuition from $1,300 a month to a payment that is pegged at the highest tuition at a public university in a veteran's state of residence, which for Massachusetts would be $10,232. The bill includes monthly living expenses of $1,100 to $1,200.
In July, VA planned to develop a procurement for the new system through the Office of Personnel Management's Training and Management Assistance contract, said Keith Pedigo, assistant deputy undersecretary at the Office of Policy and Program Management at the Veterans Benefits Administration. He testified at a hearing of the House VA committee on Sept. 24.
Full story: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20081029_2928.php?zone=NGpopular <http://gove-media.com/portal/wts/ccmcfOaQe8aqo8-L7EnkbQ6Mivd>
