The government sought Tuesday to dismiss concerns that it might try to delay rollout of the new GI Bill, pledging to be ready to handle growing claims in veterans education benefits after abandoning plans to hire a contractor.

Testifying before a House panel, officials with the Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledged the potential for glitches as they scramble to upgrade government IT systems before the new legislation providing millions of dollars in new GI benefits takes effect next August.

But the VA contended it was on track to implement an IT system "in-house" just one month after abruptly scrapping plans to hire an IT contractor that the government previously contended was critical to get a system up and running on time.

"We have the resources. We have the working functionality," said Keith Wilson, the VA's director of the Office of Education Service, reversing course from comments made by the VA in September. "We have a full pool of people to do the testing and manage all the efforts under way."  Read full story.  (Associated Press)

2008-11-19