U.S. Reps. Salud Carbajal, D-CA (pictured here), and Lloyd Smucker, R-CA reintroduced the Home for the Brave Act on Monday. (Photo: Carbajal.house.gov)
U.S. Representatives Salud Carbajal (D-CA) and Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) reintroduced a bill on Monday that bars VA disability benefits from being counted as income when determining eligibility for housing assistance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The bill, now known as the Home for the Brave Act of 2021, was previously introduced in 2019 but did not receive enough support.
Rep. Carbajal says, “It is wrong to deny veterans access to housing assistance programs due to disability benefits they receive for service-related injury or illness … I am glad to work across the aisle on this legislation to assist our veterans experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity on the Central Coast and across the country. They stepped up to defend our nation and now Congress must step up for them by ending this egregious housing discrimination against our disabled veterans.”
National Commander of The American Legion James W. “Bill” Oxford said, “The American Legion is proud to stand with Rep. Carbajal in support of the Home for the Brave Act, which would close the loophole that counts service-related disability benefits as income for consideration of housing assistance programs.”
The bill comes at a time when veterans homelessness and housing insecurity are on the rise, especially in California where over 30% of the nation’s homeless veterans live.
Secretary Denis McDonough has previously noted that tackling veteran homelessness is a top priority for the VA. Most recently, the department extended an eviction and foreclosure moratorium for VA home loan borrowers to July 31 with additional assistance being offered through September.
Author: Christian Southards
Coming from a family with a proud military background and wanting to contribute his writing skills to a worthy cause, Christian began writing for the California American Legion in August of 2020. His father is a 25-year Army Veteran and his grandfather served in the Navy during Vietnam.
