Weekly Column: Improving Housing Assistance For Idaho Veterans And Servicemembers

Idaho veterans and servicemembers give so much in service to our nation. Two recent actions will better ensure their access to safe and affordable housing.

First, President Trump recently signed the Disabled Veterans Housing Support Act into law. Senator Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) and I introduced the Senate version of this legislation that the U.S. Senate unanimously passed on January 7, 2026. On a unanimous basis, the U.S. House of Representatives had previously passed the bill, led in the House by Representative Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) and Brad Sherman (D-California), on February 10, 2025, so the Senate’s passage enabled the bill to be sent to the President for signature into law.

The now-law exempts veteran disability benefits from being included as income when determining eligibility for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) housing. This is an important fix, as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidelines have included disability compensation received by a veteran as part of the calculation to determine eligibility for federal housing assistance funded through the CDBG program. The practice has disproportionately impacted those who rely on disability assistance as their primary source of income, often making it more difficult for them to access affordable housing and further contributing to veteran homelessness.

This law removes that barrier for CDBG-funded programs by explicitly excluding service-connected disability compensation from HUD’s income eligibility requirements for CDBG. By doing so, it will increase the ability of wounded veterans to secure housing assistance for which they would have otherwise been disqualified.

The law also directs the U.S. Government Accountability Office to report to Congress in one year on how individuals with service-connected disabilities are treated in determining their eligibility for HUD’s programs and provide recommendations for how the Department could improve its service to veterans and other underserved communities.

Another recent improvement will provide student veterans and active duty servicemembers housing financial relief while attending their academic programs at the University of Idaho. This is due to a much-needed adjustment to the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rates, matching rates in Moscow, Idaho to those in Pullman, Washington. The Defense Travel Management Office explains, BAH is a fundamental component of the military pay package designed to offset housing costs for servicemembers renting off-base on the local market economy. This change provides a 23 percent increase (to $1,815) for an E-5 rank student with dependents living within the 83843/44 zip codes from the past BAH values for the area and will hopefully make housing more affordable for student veterans and servicemembers at University of Idaho using education benefits.

Access to affordable housing is the number one issue Idahoans raise with me in meetings across the State, and I have been seeking a better understanding of the specific housing challenges in Idaho in an effort to develop policy solutions. As we work to improve the ability of all Idahoans to access safe, affordable housing, the housing needs of Idaho veterans and servicemembers are a key part of this effort. These two developments will help make certain that federal programs intended to assist Americans with affordable housing options are suitably accessible to military families. I will continue to work with Idahoans to pursue improvements, such as these, in our efforts to advance sound housing policies that will help make the American Dream of homeownership more attainable.

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