Federal Daily - June 24, 2008

Veterans Student Financial Aid Keeps Pace With Tuition

Despite a decade of skyrocketing college tuition costs, federal student aid for veterans has kept pace with the amount of student aid given to non-veteran students, said a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released on June 20. GAO looked at whether veterans were being short-changed when it comes to Title IV federal financial aid programs, such as Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, and campus-based aid programs. Veterans are eligible for the Title IV programs as well as federal financial aid from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). VA awarded about $2 billion in Chapter 30 education benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill to more than 300,000 veteran students in Fiscal Year 2007. Overall, veteran students received similar amounts of Title IV aid as non-veteran, independent students, the report said. However, when Chapter 30 GI benefits were added in, GAO calculated that veterans received more total federal aid than non-veterans. Also, GAO found that of the eight schools it checked, five used their limited flexibility to allow veterans to be eligible for larger amounts of certain types of Title IV aid, the report said. To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-08-741.

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IRS Ramps Up Efforts to Get Stimulus Checks to Disabled Vets, Retirees

The IRS has launched a new effort to help qualified disabled veterans and retirees file the tax paperwork that will get them economic stimulus checks authorized by Congress for the 2007 tax year, the agency announced on June 19. The summer IRS campaign will attempt to reach those disabled veterans and retirees who qualify for the economic stimulus payment but have not yet filed to claim it. Most qualified individuals who have not yet received checks are those who are not normally required to file a tax return. However, eligible individuals still can receive a stimulus check if they file a tax return before Oct. 15, IRS said in a statement. Generally, filing a tax return to receive a stimulus payment does not mean that a filer will have to start submitting tax returns again, the agency said. Eligible individuals are receiving up to $600 ($1,200 for married couples filing joint returns) plus $300 for eligible children younger than 17. “This summer, we will go the extra mile to help the remaining disabled veterans get their payments,” said Doug Shulman, IRS commissioner. To see more, go to: www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=184063,00.html.

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NATCA Rejects Latest FAA Offer

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) has rejected the latest offer from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to resolve outstanding issues in their ongoing labor dispute, which dates back to 2006. In a letter to FAA Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell, NATCA President Patrick Forrey said the latest settlement offer resolves even fewer issues than previous offers, and leaves unresolved the largest issue—air traffic controller pay bands. NATCA suggested that if the face-to-face negotiations fail, both sides could enter into binding arbitration to help resolve any outstanding matters. “Passing settlement offers back-and-forth every few months is insufficient to bridge the gap caused by FAA’s termination of bargaining in April 2006,” Forrey said in a statement last week. “This proposal is worse than the proposal made one year ago,” Forrey wrote. “Your settlement offer is rejected.” To see more, go to: www.natca.org/assets/documents/laborrelations/natca-response-061908.pdf.

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