South Raleigh News

Today, Attorney General Jeff Jackson, alongside 51 other Attorneys General from both Republican and Democratic backgrounds, urged an appeals court to safeguard veterans' rights to receive the full educational benefits they are entitled to after military service.

“After I served in Afghanistan, I went to law school on the GI bill and became a prosecutor,” stated Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “The GI bill changes lives for veterans and their families – it changed mine. And every veteran should be able to receive the full maximum value of benefits they earned in service.”

Various programs have been established by Congress to assist veterans with education and training. The Montgomery GI Bill supports education for those who have completed at least two years of active duty, while the Post-9/11 GI Bill covers costs for those who served after September 10, 2001. In Rudisill v. McDonough, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that veterans eligible under both bills can access benefits from each for up to four years.

However, in Yoon v. Collins, a coalition of bipartisan Attorneys General contends that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs did not comply with this Supreme Court ruling by denying two veterans the full extent of these benefits. They are urging the court to restore these entitlements for all veterans.

North Carolina hosts over 600,000 veterans who return home seeking education and training necessary for civilian life and family support. In 2022 alone, more than 17,000 North Carolina veterans utilized GI Bill benefits for schooling.

Attorney General Jeff Jackson is joined in this legal effort by his counterparts from all 49 states, along with representatives from the District of Columbia and Northern Mariana Islands.

A copy of the brief is available here.