Gomez, Sánchez Introduce Bill to Expand Access to Affordable Housing for Veterans“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."
Washington,
September 24, 2024
Tags:
Housing
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Representative Jimmy Gomez, along with Reps. Linda Sánchez, 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 Veterans Affairs (VA) disability benefits are not used against veterans to deny them access to affordable housing. Since VA service-connected disability and pension benefits are currently counted as income in applications for federal affordable housing programs, many veterans are being pushed above the income threshold and into homelessness. This bill would address that challenge by codifying guidance updated by the Biden-Harris administration today, ensuring that benefits received for military service, especially for those who sustained a service-connected disability, are not held against veterans when determining affordable housing eligibility requirements. "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 Rep. Jimmy 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." “Our veterans deserve to be treated with fairness and respect when searching for affordable housing,” said Rep. Linda 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.” "Too often disabled veterans are being denied housing, that was specifically built for them, because of this income issue. 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,” said House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Rep. Mark Takano 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. ### |
