VA Benefits: Bill To Raise Benefit Payments For Veterans Passes House
Summary
A bipartisan bill to increase benefits for severely disabled veterans and surviving military family members passed the House of Representatives. The bill raises certain VA payments and expands access to VA-backed home loans for National Guard and Reserve members, and now moves to the Senate.Key Facts
- The bill is called the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act.
- It passed the House by a vote of 235-179 and will now be considered by the Senate.
- It increases Dependency and Indemnity Compensation benefits by 1.5% over two years for surviving spouses and families of service members who died in the line of duty.
- It raises Special Monthly Compensation payments by $10,000 annually for veterans with severe disabilities needing regular aid or with traumatic brain injuries.
- The bill expands eligibility for VA-backed home loans to National Guard and Reserve members with as little as 14 days of combined active or training duty.
- To fund these changes, the bill increases VA home loan refinance and assumption fees for some veterans who refinance voluntarily.
- Disabled veterans remain exempt from the new fees and their access to VA home loans will not be affected.
- Some Democrats support the benefit increases but oppose raising fees to pay for them.
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