Andrew Yang's newest proposal would provide veterans with in-state tuition at any public institution
Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang paused from pushing his central campaign message — universal basic income — on Monday and turned his attention toward military veterans.
Yang on Monday unveiled a policy proposal focused on improving veteran services. He's only the second candidate to release a plan focused specifically on veterans so far, after Marine Corps veteran Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), and he's the first among those who have qualified for the debate stage, per Politico.
The plan would allow veterans to forego required civilian training for certain jobs, like emergency medical technicians. For example, under Yang's proposal the training a former military medic received during their service time would qualify them to become a EMT without having to undergo any further training or licensing. Yang thinks that the current re-training requirements are disrespectful toward veterans, as well as expensive and "wasteful."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Yang's proposal would revamp the longstanding G.I. Bill by allowing veterans to receive in-state tuition from any public institution, regardless of how long they've held residency in a state, because "military service provides protection to all 50 states." He would also introduce a "reverse bootcamp", which would help veterans transition to civilian life, and he would provide federal waivers for veterans so they can receive controlled substance treatments, such as medical marijuana, for pain management and post traumatic stress disorder.
The 2020 candidate was reportedly inspired to draw up the proposal after meeting with members of Common Defense, a veterans group that opposes President Trump. Read the full plan here.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Looming drone ban has some farm-state Republicans anxiousIN THE SPOTLIGHT As congressional China-hawks work to limit commercial drone sales from Beijing, a growing number of conservative lawmakers are sounding an agricultural alarm
-
Mind-expanding podcasts you may have missed this fallThe Week Recommends True crime, a book club and a therapeutic outlet led this season’s best podcasts
-
‘It’s critical that Congress get involved’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Canada joins EU’s $170B SAFE defense fundspeed read This makes it the first non-European Union country in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative
-
Appeals court disqualifies US Attorney Alina HabbaSpeed Read The former personal attorney to President Donald Trump has been unlawfully serving as US attorney for New Jersey, the ruling says
-
White House says admiral ordered potential war crimeSpeed Read The Trump administration claims Navy Vice Adm. Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley ordered a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, not Pete Hegseth
-
Honduras votes amid Trump push, pardon vowspeed read President Trump said he will pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving 45 years for drug trafficking
-
Congress seeks answers in ‘kill everybody’ strike reportSpeed Read Lawmakers suggest the Trump administration’s follow-up boat strike may be a war crime
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
