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Legislative bills

Senate Advances Bipartisan Bill to Help House Disabled Veterans

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs advanced legislation co-led by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) to ensure veterans experiencing homelessness and receiving disability payments maintain access to crucial housing support. The Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act (HUDVA) would permanently exclude disability payments from income for housing assistance eligibility purposes under the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program. This bill aims to address the issue of disabled veterans being unable to access veterans housing programs due to outdated income definitions.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs advanced the Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act (HUDVA), a bipartisan bill to ensure disabled veterans can access housing assistance.
  • The bill would exclude disability payments from income for housing assistance eligibility purposes under the HUD-VASH Program.
  • Currently, some disabled veterans are ineligible for HUD-VASH due to outdated income definitions, but HUD has changed its policies to exclude VA disability benefits from income.
  • The bill aims to permanently codify this policy change to ensure access continues for disabled veterans.
  • Senators Padilla, McCormick, Gallego, and Britt cosponsored the bill, which is also supported by Reps. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.-32) and Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas-15) in the House.
  • California has the most veterans in the nation, with 28 percent of all veterans experiencing homelessness residing in the state last year.
  • Sen. Padilla has consistently fought to improve veterans' access to housing, passing a bipartisan amendment into law last year to increase and streamline veterans' access to HUD-VASH housing vouchers.

Statistics:

  • 28 percent of all veterans experiencing homelessness in the United States last year resided in California (Source: Original text).
  • California has the most veterans in the nation (Source: Original text).
  • 4 senators (Padilla, McCormick, Gallego, and Britt) and 2 representatives (Sherman and De La Cruz) are involved in the bipartisan effort to pass the bill (Source: Original text).

Sources:

  • Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), [www.padilla.senate.gov](http://www.padilla.senate.gov)
  • Washington, D.C. - Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, [www.banking.senate.gov](http://www.banking.senate.gov)
  • Full text of HUDVA available at [www.padilla.senate.gov](http://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-advances-padilla-mccormick-gallego-britt-bipartisan-bill-to-help-house-disabled-veterans/)

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