Student Veteran Coronavirus Response Act of 2020
Public Law 116-140 · H.R. 6322 · 116th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Donald Trump (R) on Apr 28, 2020 · Armed Forces and National Security
Sponsor: Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA-41)
Cosponsors (49): Rep. Phil Roe, Rep. Joaquin Castro,
Passage votes
- HouseUnanimous consent
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Student Veteran Coronavirus Response Act of 2020
This bill addresses education programs and assistance for veterans during the covered period from March 1-December 21, 2020.
Specifically, the bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to continue paying work-study allowances during emergency periods.
The VA is also authorized to continue paying educational assistance and subsistence allowances for a specified amount of time for programs of education that are suspended due to an emergency situation.
An educational assistance payment shall not be charged against an individual's entitlement to educational assistance if an individual was unable to complete a course or program due to the temporary closure of an educational institution or the temporary termination of a program by reason of an emergency situation. This includes assistance related to training and rehabilitation programs for veterans with service-connected disabilities.
The bill extends the time limitation for using educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill when institutions are closed due to an emergency situation or executive order. The bill also extends the time limitation for participation in a vocational rehabilitation program when such participation is prevented due to an emergency situation or executive order.
The bill authorizes the VA to pay a subsistence allowance for two additional months to a veteran following a program of employment services during the covered period for full-time training for the type of program the veteran was pursuing.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Related bills
4 bills the Library of Congress relates to this one.
H.R. 6262Related bill
Disabled Veterans Education Relief Act
H.R. 6379Related bill
Workforce Emergency Response Act of 2020
S. 3575Related bill
Disabled Veterans Education Relief Act of 2020
S. 3678Related bill
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for payment of work-study allowances during a public health emergency relating to COVID-19 and for allowances to veterans enrolled in educational institutions clo…
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 13 actions.
- Apr 28, 2020Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 116-140.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Apr 23, 2020FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Apr 22, 2020FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Apr 21, 2020FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate under the order of 4/21/2020.
- Mar 31, 2020FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On passage, as amended Passed without objection.
- FloorFloor · Without objection, the Chair laid before the House H.R. 6322 with an amendment. The reading of the amendment was dispensed with and the amendment was agreed to without objection.
- CommitteeCommittee · Committee on Armed Services discharged.
- CommitteeCommittee · Committee on Veterans' Affairs discharged.
- Mar 23, 2020CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
No amendments to this bill are on record.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.