Shutdown reaches WSU student veterans

One week after the government shutdown, questions linger for more than 800 WSU student veterans about how the partial close will impact their education.

WSU Veterans Coordinator Blaine Golden said the effects of the government shutdown have been limited. Communication with the Department of Veteran Affairs has been a struggle. As of Monday, phone lines used for financial inquiries have been out of service.

“The hotlines have been turned off due to a lack of funding,” Golden said.

Even lines for school certified officials to reach the veteran’s affairs (VA) have been cut, he said.

Golden said as a consequence, student veterans cannot effectively change their direct deposit information or check the status on their payments by utilizing an online help service.

“I have heard some veterans have utilized that email system and have had some success, but as I said, the turnaround time has been much longer,” Golden said.

Despite the government shutdown, he said some financial payments have managed to process.

“The VA has indicated and so far proven that they were able to make stipend payments in October,” Golden said. 

Jonathan McBride, treasurer of the ASWSU Student Veterans Committee, served five years of active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps. McBride said worry began to set in when he first heard the news that the government had shutdown.

“If the shutdown was to continue to mid-October to November, it would impact education and vocational rehabilitation programs,” he said. “Funding would cease to exist if the VA was not given more money to pay for these programs.”

Golden said the Post 9/11 GI Bill recipients in Pullman receive a $966 stipend.

McBride and hundreds of other veterans depend on that money to ensure their success at WSU. 

“We hang in the balance because we are students who rely on the GI Bill to pay our tuition and also to fund housing,” he said.

McBride said he is keeping an optimistic attitude about a resolution to the government shutdown, but he is unsure whether he will be a student next semester.

“If they shutdown we may not have a next semester here,” he said.

ASWSU Sen. Travis Tran has made it his goal to present a resolution before the student senate on Wednesday, in hopes of getting the word out that student veterans are in need of immediate assistance.

“As a senator, I have to advocate to the senate to do everything we can as a university to make sure our veterans get as much pressure relieved as possible,” he said.

Tran will propose an extension for veterans to fulfill their payments by waiving late fees.

“We’re asking for a delay in rent payment for veterans who live on campus in residence halls or WSU apartments,” he said.

For now, Tran said he is vying for the university to give veterans room to breathe if worse comes to worse for amid the government shutdown.

“The sense of urgent panic will come if the shutdown continues until the end of this month, where it is determined that for November there will be no pay check,” Tran said.