Bill introduced to prevent disabled veterans from being denied access to affordable housing
WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Linda Sánchez and Congressmen Jimmy Gomez, Brad Sherman, Salud Carbajal, Mark Takano, Mike Levin and Ted Lieu (all D-CA) introduced the Fair Housing for Disabled Veterans Act, a bill to ensure VA disability benefits are not used to deny veterans access to affordable housing.
VA disability benefits are currently considered income when applying for federal affordable housing programs, pushing many disabled veterans above the income threshold and into homelessness. The bill would change that by codifying guidance updated by the Biden-Harris administration today so that benefits received for suffering an injury during service are not held against them when determining eligibility requirements.
“Our veterans deserve to be treated with fairness and respect when searching for affordable housing,” said Congresswoman Sánchez. “Despite receiving monthly benefits, many veterans with disabilities are still struggling to afford housing and other essential needs. Our bill will ensure veterans are not denied access to affordable housing because of disability benefits, allowing them to live with the dignity they earned through their service.”
"Our nation’s veterans are being turned away from affordable housing because their disability benefits and pensions put them over the income threshold—we have the responsibility to right that wrong and ensure those who put their lives on the line can live with dignity and respect,” said Congressman Gomez. "This bill will exempt these benefits from being considered as income when applying for affordable housing. None of our brave veterans, especially those who were disabled in the line of duty, should be unhoused after they've already sacrificed for our freedoms."
“It is completely unacceptable and shameful that many disabled homeless veterans who need assistance the most are unable to access housing programs for veterans because of how income is defined, said Congressman Sherman. “I am glad to work with Congresswoman Sánchez on this commonsense legislation to ensure that veteran disability benefits no longer close the door to the housing our disabled heroes critically need.”
"Benefits that our veterans earn through their service should not be the reason they can't qualify for other benefits like federal housing assistance. I've worked to get all federal programs to recognize this unreasonable housing discrimination against our veterans, which the Biden-Harris administration recently took the step towards doing by adopting my Home for the Brave Act, and I'm proud to join Rep. Sánchez on legislation to codify this solution for all our nation's veterans,” said Congressman Carbajal.
"Too often disabled veterans are being denied housing, that was specifically built for them, because of this income issue,” said House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Takano. “Veterans have earned their disability benefits, and they shouldn't be used against them. By codifying this change for the Low-Income Tax Credit Program coupled with the guidance recently issued from then Biden-Harris administration, this bill will allow more homeless veterans to be housed, getting us closer to our goal of ending veteran homelessness."
"HUD’s recent pivotal rule change to stop counting service-connected disability benefits as income is a step in the right direction. It will ensure thousands of homeless and low-income veterans can access the housing vouchers they rightfully deserve, but now it must be codified into law so that the rule change is not on the chopping block depending on the whim of a presidential administration,” said Congressman Levin. “Our nation’s heroes should never go hungry, unemployed, or homeless. This bill will help tackle veteran homelessness and provide an important path to obtaining a safe, stable, and affordable home. I thank Rep. Sánchez and my colleagues for their partnership on this legislation and look forward to it moving through the House.”
“We have a responsibility to ensure all those who serve our country in the military have access to safe and affordable housing,” said Congressman Lieu. “For too long, certain veterans receiving service-connected disability payments and pension payments that they earned through their service have been kept from affordable housing due to income restrictions. While recent guidance issued by the Biden-Harris administration expanded access to housing vouchers for veterans receiving disability payments, we must codify these protections to ensure all veterans have a safe place to call home. I am glad to work with Congresswoman Sánchez and our colleagues to continue our fight to end veteran homelessness.”
Specifically, the Fair Housing for Disabled Veterans Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code to strike consideration of veterans’ service-connected disability and pension payments when determining income qualifications for properties financed with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and qualified residential bonds. This is similar to how other in-kind federal benefits are treated when applying for housing assistance.
The full text of the bill can be found here.
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