Progress Illinois

Yesterday, Matt Yglesias highlighted a Washington Examiner article on those states that have been doing their part to fill in the gaps left by the outdated GI Bill:

[M]any states are extending - or looking to extend - benefits to veterans who have returned home.

New Jersey's bill would allow veterans or spouses of veterans killed on active duty to pay only $50 per credit for a degree from a public college and university in the state. Such a measure would save them hundreds of dollars per class.

It's happening elsewhere. Minnesota provides up to $1,000 per academic term to veterans and the dependents of deceased and disabled veterans. Wisconsin is letting veterans attend Wisconsin universities and technical colleges for free. Louisiana exempts some Guard members from all or part of public college tuition.

As Yglesias aptly points out, veterans' benefits is just the latest issue on which state goverments are attempting to pick up the slack left by Congress' failure to pass comprehensive reforms:

It seems that GI Bill reform is yet another thing that states are taking on to compensate for the lack of movement on the national level, much like immigration reform, health care reform, and gay marriage/civil unions. When there's lack of movement on a national level to create reform, states will start to pass reforms. The result is a patchwork of legislation around the country, leaving some veterans high and dry while others that have (limited) options.

Another byproduct of these scattered efforts is that they put additional pressure on state budgets that are already feeling the crunch.