(The Center Square) – Two military veterans seeking full GI education bill benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs have the support of 52 attorneys general.
An amicus brief, led by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The brief says they were unlawfully denied.
An August 2023 bipartisan coalition urged the U.S. Supreme Court to protect veterans’ rights by ruling in favor of Virginian James Rudisill’s claim for similar benefits.
In April 2024, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Rudisill in Rudisill v. McDonough, which affirmed that veterans “who qualify under both the Montgomery and Post-9/11 GI bills are entitled to a full 48 months of education benefits.”
The attorneys general say since the Rudisill ruling, the “VA has taken a restrictive interpretation” of the GI bills that “contradicts” the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling.
A release says, “The VA has taken a restrictive interpretation of the G.I. Bills that contradicts the Supreme Court. Despite the clear precedent set last year, the VA has continued to limit benefits based on an erroneous reading of the ruling, depriving veterans and their families of critical educational opportunities.”
The latest legal challenge involves another Virginia resident, Lt. Col. Paul Yoon, an Army veteran, and Col. Toby Doran, an Air Force veteran. The attorneys general say Yoon and Doran were denied “crucial” education benefits to which they are entitled.
“For generations, our service members have defended the freedoms we hold dear, and in return, our nation made them a promise – education benefits to help them and their families build a successful civilian life,” Miyares said. “The VA’s refusal to honor that promise defies the law and dishonors their service. Virginia is home to hundreds of thousands of veterans, and I will always stand up to ensure they receive the benefits they earned.”
The Montgomery GI Bill was passed in 1984, building on the original GI bill passed in 1944 to assist returning World War II veterans in adjusting to civilian life. The Post 9/11 GI Bill was enacted in 2008 to provide educational benefits to service members who served after Sept. 11, 2001.
Virginia is joined by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
