American Legion on GI Bill Reform and Veterans in the Trades

Joseph Sharpe Jr., Director of the National Veterans Employment and Education Commission at the American Legion, and policy associate Steve Betsch joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to make the case for a bipartisan U.S. Senate bill that would correct a long-standing inequity in the Post-9/11 GI Bill: veteran apprentices currently see their monthly housing allowance reduced by 20 percent every six months, while degree-seeking students receive the full amount for the life of their program.

Legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Tim Sheehy and Elissa Slotkin, the Reducing Arbitrary Barriers to Apprenticeship Act of 2026 (S.3993), would bring the two pathways to parity and, its supporters argue, help fill the roughly 600,000 skilled trades jobs currently vacant across the country. A Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing was held on April 29.

• The Post-9/11 GI Bill, championed by the American Legion and signed into law in 2008, covers full tuition, provides a monthly housing allowance and includes a book and supplies stipend for veteran students. However, apprentices and trade program participants face a step-down structure that reduces their housing allowance by 20 percent every six months. Betsch attributed the discrepancy to an assumption that rising wages would offset the reduction, which he said no longer reflects the reality of modern cost of living.
• Bipartisan Senate legislation introduced by Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana and Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan would guarantee veteran apprentices 100 percent of the monthly housing allowance for the full duration of their program, directly mirroring what degree-seeking students receive. The bill has drawn support from AFL-CIO affiliates, trades unions in plumbing, electrical and welding, the elevator constructors and the U.S. Department of Labor's Deputy Secretary, who expressed a goal of placing at least a million service members into the trades.
• With approximately 600,000 skilled trades jobs currently unfilled nationwide and the United States falling significantly behind global competitors in shipbuilding capacity, Sharpe argued that directing more veterans into building trades apprenticeships is simultaneously a workforce solution, an infrastructure investment and a national security priority that has attracted genuine bipartisan momentum.

Two Veterans, One Mission: Getting Service Members Into Good Jobs

Joseph Sharpe Jr. came to the American Legion after 30 years in the Army, the final decade and a half spent as a civil affairs officer whose last assignment was helping rebuild Baghdad's economy after the Iraq War. When he returned to the United States, he said his mission felt familiar: help people transition back into productive civilian life. He has been doing exactly that at the Legion's National Veterans Employment and Education Commission for nearly three decades.

Steve Betsch arrived on a different path. A Navy submariner and navigation electronics technician who served from 2015 to 2020, he separated in May of 2020 in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finding entry-level employment in that environment was difficult, and for several months, the GI Bill's monthly housing allowance was the only thing keeping him financially afloat. He eventually enrolled in college, used the Yellow Ribbon program to attend a private university with tuition of roughly $30,000 per semester, and graduated with zero debt. That experience gave him a direct stake in ensuring the benefits work as intended.

The GI Bill's Legacy and Its Modern Gap

The original GI Bill, written by the American Legion at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. and lobbied into law after World War II, was designed to give 16 million returning veterans a pathway to economic self-sufficiency through education, trades training, farming or entrepreneurship. It worked. Sharpe credits it as a foundational reason why the United States became such an economic powerhouse in the postwar decades.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill, which the Legion helped champion, was signed into law in 2008. It extended that tradition for a new generation of veterans returning from conflicts in the Middle East. It covers full tuition at public institutions, provides a monthly housing allowance and includes a stipend for books and supplies. For the right veteran in the right circumstances, it is genuinely life-changing, as Betsch's own experience demonstrates.

The gap lies in how the bill treats veterans who choose apprenticeships over pursuing a four-year degree. A college student receives 100 percent of the monthly housing allowance for the full duration of their program. A veteran apprentice starts at 100 percent but loses 20 percent of that benefit every six months. By the time they are deep into a multi-year apprenticeship, their housing support has been cut substantially. Betsch speculated the step-down was designed to reflect the assumption that apprentice wages would rise over time, partially offsetting the reduction. He described that assumption as detached from current cost-of-living realities.

The Senate Bill That Could Fix It

The legislation at the center of this conversation is a bipartisan Senate bill, the Reducing Arbitrary Barriers to Apprenticeship Act of 2026 (S.3993), introduced by U.S. Sens. Tim Sheehy of Montana and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. Its premise is that if the GI Bill is going to treat education and trades training as equally valid pathways after service, then the financial support for those pathways should be structured equally. The bill would guarantee veteran apprentices 100 percent of their monthly housing allowance for the full life of their program, putting them on the same footing as degree-seeking veterans.

The American Legion is actively supporting the bill. A hearing before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee was scheduled for April 29, and Betsch asked union leaders to write a letter of support to Senator Sheehy's or Senator Slotkin's office, and discuss the legislation within their networks. There is also a House companion bill, though the Legion views the Senate version as stronger.

Trades, Unions and a National Workforce Gap

Support for the bill is not limited to the veteran community. The American Legion recently hosted an industrial summit at its Washington conference that brought together representatives from AFL-CIO affiliates, plumbing and electrical unions, welders, elevator constructors and Helmets to Hardhats. The U.S. Department of Labor's Deputy Secretary attended and expressed strong support, framing the goal as placing at least a million service members into the skilled trades.

Sharpe connected the workforce argument to a national security dimension that has become increasingly urgent: the United States has fallen far behind global competitors in shipbuilding capacity. Building and maintaining a Navy capable of competing internationally requires a deep pool of skilled tradespeople, and the military itself is a natural pipeline for that talent if the financial incentives are structured correctly. The legislation offers an opportunity to address multiple problems with a single policy change.

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