Investing in effective readjustment programs to promote education and employment and to combat homelessness will pay tremendous dividends in the long run—both in terms of reducing the strain on social services, and in terms of encouraging high-aptitude young people to join the military. IAVA recommends the following steps to ensure today’s veterans receive the transition support they have earned.

2.1 Build a New GI Bill

• IAVA supports a modernized WWII-style GI bill that covers the full cost of an education at any public school or equivalently-priced private school. Benefits for Reserve/National Guard servicemembers should be based on the cumulative length of their deployments and not on their single longest deployment. Tuition costs should be paid up front and directly to the college, allowing veterans access to education without forcing them to take out loans.

2.2 Protect Servicemembers from Unfair Contracts

• Students who are deployed overseas should be reimbursed for tuition paid towards interrupted coursework. Returning students must be reinstated with the same academic status they earned before they were deployed. The 6% interest cap in the Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act (SCRA) that currently applies to most forms of loans should also apply to student loans. • The Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act should be amended to allow servicemembers the right to suspend or terminate service contracts (such as cell phone contracts) signed by or on behalf of that servicemember. • Like other similar purposeful violations of the SCRA, purposeful violation of the interest rate cap should be punishable as a misdemeanor.

2.3 Create Tax Incentives for Patriotic Employers

• IAVA supports tax credits for the hiring of veterans, including National Guardsmen and Reservists, and those at risk for homelessness. • IAVA recommends tax credits for employers who, when their reserve component employees are called to active duty for over 90 days, continue to support their employees by paying the difference between the servicemembers’ civilian salary and their military wages. • IAVA recommends the creation of small-business grants for National Guardsmen and Reservist entrepreneurs called to active duty for over 90 days.

2.4 Fight Homelessness among Veterans

• IAVA recommends the creation of new pilot programs to identify veterans at-risk for homelessness and to provide preventative support services. • IAVA supports increased funding for employment assistance and reintegration programs for homeless veterans. • The VA must ensure that their housing system provides adequate capacity and safety for female veterans.

2.5 Support USERRA Job Protections for National Guardsmen and Reservists

• IAVA supports the extension of Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protections to servicemembers working in domestic response operations. • Employers who knowingly violate USERRA protections for veterans should face civil and criminal prosecution. Congress must direct tough enforcement of USERRA by the Departments of Justice and Labor, and give these agencies specific resources for this function. • Servicemembers who face employment discrimination based on their military service must be afforded their day in court, as intended by the original USERRA statute. USERRA complaints should be exempt from pre-dispute binding arbitration agreements as a matter of law. • Violation of USERRA should be explicitly added to the list of offenses for which suspension or debarment from eligibility for federal government contracts is authorized. A referral mechanism should be established for any USERRA violation substantiated by the Labor Department, so that those firms are automatically recommended for suspension or debarment from eligibility for federal government contracts.