Introduced on April 25, 2013 | Number of co-sponsors 6 | |
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Full title To exclude from consideration as income under the United States Housing Act of 1937 payments of pension made under section 1521 of title 38, United States Code, to veterans who are in need of regular aid and attendance, and for other purposes. Sponsored by Rep. Joseph J. Heck (R, NV-3) Act(s) affected United States Housing Act of 1937 | ||
The Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2013 (H
Contents
Background
A previous version of this bill, called the Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2012 (H
Provisions of the bill
This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Research Service, a public domain source.
The Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2013 would amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 to exclude as family income for Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) housing assistance purposes any Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) payments made to veterans in need of regular aid and attendance for expenses related to such aid and attendance.
The bill would prohibit, in determining the monthly rental assistance payment for low-income families, the amount for tenant-paid utilities from exceeding the appropriate utility allowance for that family unit size as determined by the public housing agency (PHA), regardless of the size of the unit leased by the family. It would require the PHA, upon request by a family that includes a person with disabilities, an elderly family, or a family that includes a person less than 18 years old, to approve a higher utility allowance, except that in the case of a family with a disabled person the PHA shall approve the higher amount only when needed as a reasonable accommodation to make the unit accessible to and usable by that person.
It would direct the HUD Secretary to regularly publish data regarding local utility consumption and costs in order to establish appropriate allowances for tenant-paid utilities for assisted families.
Congressional Budget Office report
According to the House Republican Conference, the Congressional Budget Office issued an informal report that the exemption of VA aid payments from HUD calculations "would cost $34 million over five years, while the adjustment of the utilities provision would save $80 million over five years."
House
The Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2013 was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on April 25, 2013 by Rep. Joseph J. Heck (R, NV-3). It was referred to the United States House Committee on Financial Services. On October 25, 2013, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced that H.R. 1742 would be on the House schedule for the week of October 28, 2013. It was scheduled for a vote on October 28, 2013 under a suspension of the rules. The House was expected to deal with six different bills related to Veterans all on the same day, including this bill.