National Guard members gain long-overdue GI Bill access for full-time duty
H.R. 1423 — Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act of 2025 · Filed by Mike Levin (D-CA) · 57 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 18, 2025 · Markup held
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill expands the Post-9/11 GI Bill to cover more National Guard members who perform full-time duty. Currently, most Guard members only qualify if they serve on federal active duty orders; this bill adds eligibility for those performing full-time National Guard duty under state authority. The change applies retroactively to service after September 11, 2001, meaning eligible Guard members can claim benefits for past service.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to expand eligibility for an existing federal education benefit (Post-9/11 GI Bill) to a previously excluded category of military service members (National Guard performing full-time duty). It is a straightforward entitlement expansion with no hidden riders or narrow carve-outs.
What the text implies
- Retroactive application to service after 9/11/2001 creates a multi-year claims backlog; VA will need to process and fund benefits for Guard members whose service predates this law by up to 24 years, potentially straining administrative capacity and requiring supplemental appropriations.
- The one-year implementation delay (effective date one year after enactment) creates a gap period where newly eligible Guard members cannot yet claim benefits for qualifying service, potentially generating legislative pressure for retroactive payment authority.
- Interaction with state-level National Guard command structures may create ambiguity about which 'full-time National Guard duty' qualifies, potentially requiring VA guidance or litigation to clarify eligibility boundaries.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
National Guard members performing full-time duty gain access to educational benefits (tuition, stipends, housing allowance) they were previously denied, expanding opportunity for military service members to pursue education. The retroactive application allows past service to count, creating a windfall for eligible members.
Who stands to gain
- National Guard members performing full-time duty
- Educational institutions (tuition revenue from GI Bill payments)
Named in the bill
National Guard, Department of Veterans Affairs, Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, Title 38 USC, Title 10 USC, Title 32 USC, Title 14 USC
Where it stands
57 cosponsors: 36 Democrats, 21 Republicans.
- Feb 18, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 18, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Veterans' Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs”
- Mar 10, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
- Apr 9, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $199,349 in lobbying spend. A filing names 95 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Mike Levin, the sponsor, reported $429,156 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Paralyzed Veterans of America — $199,349 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,951 characters) on Aug 24, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 17, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“National Guard members gain long-overdue GI Bill access for full-time duty” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr1423 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.