Late last week, Senators Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and John McCain (R-AZ) announced a deal to salvage sought-after Veterans Administration reform in the wake of the on-going VA scandal. The legislation would allow for the reform the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand veterans’ access to health care and make it easier to fire VA officials for misconduct.
Also included, the measure would provide some educational benefits to veterans by providing in-state tuition for all veterans at public colleges and universities, GI Bill tuition benefits to the spouses of troops killed in the line of duty and increased access to health care for sexual assault victims.
The provision mirrors a measure, HR 357 – the GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act, which passed the House earlier this year with a vote of 390-0.
The Senate may consider the bill later in the week.