Crapo Joins Bipartisan Bill to Help House Disabled Veterans

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) joined U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-California), Dave McCormick (R-Pennsylvania), Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) and Katie Britt (R-Alabama) to introduce bipartisan legislation 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 received by veterans from annual income for housing assistance eligibility purposes under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program.

“Veterans who placed their lives on the line and were disabled in active duty combat should not have to worry about whether or not they will have a home after they return from their service,” Senator Crapo said.  “The fact that many disabled veterans in this country are homeless because their income from disability payments was too high to qualify for housing assistance is unconscionable.”

The HUD-VASH program plays a pivotal role in addressing homelessness among veterans by providing rental assistance from HUD along with supportive services from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  Unfortunately, some of our country’s most disabled veterans receiving disability payments have historically been unable to access veterans housing programs like HUD-VASH because HUD included disability benefits as part of their total income.  Up until recently, the more severe a disability was, the more disability benefits a veteran received, and the less likely it was that they could access veterans housing assistance.

Last year, HUD finally changed its policies to exclude VA disability benefits from income for purposes of eligibility for the HUD-VASH program.  Now that homeless veterans with disabilities can finally access this assistance, HUDVA would codify this important policy change to ensure that access continues permanently.

In another effort to support disabled veterans, Crapo also co-led reintroduction of the Major Richard Star Act, which would provide combat-injured veteran retirees full VA disability and U.S. Department of Defense retirement benefits earned by their service.

The Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act is also co-sponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). Representatives Brad Sherman (D-California) and Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) are leading companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Full text of the bill is available here.

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