• About Us
  • Activity
  • Advertising
  • Books
  • Business
  • Contact
  • Entertainment
  • feedback
  • Government
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • Members
  • National
  • Nevada
  • Nevada News and Views
  • Newsmax
  • NN&V Ads
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Polls
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Subscription Confirmation
  • Survey
  • Survey
  • Terms of Service
  • Today’s Top 10
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Welcome!
  • Yop Poll Archive
Nevada News and Views
  • Home
  • Muth’s Truths
  • Politics
  • Government
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Nevada
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Travel
    • News
    • Sports
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Pinterest

  • RSS

Politics

Heck Bill to end veterans’ homelessness passes House

Heck Bill to end veterans’ homelessness passes House
N&V Staff
May 19, 2015

Bill reverses flawed policy that limits housing benefits for low-income, disabled vets; issue first brought to Heck’s attention during local vets meeting

(Greg Lemon) – Washington — Legislation introduced by Congressman Joe Heck (NV-03) aimed at reducing veterans homelessness today passed the House of Representatives by voice vote. H.R. 1816, the Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2015, ends the flawed Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) policy of counting the aid and attendance benefit for low-income, disabled veterans as regular income.

By counting the aid and attendance benefit intended for medical care as income, HUD is unfairly reducing the housing assistance available to our low-income disabled veterans. This issue was first brought to Congressman Heck’s attention during a 2011 meeting of his Veterans Advisory Panel. The panel brings local veterans together to discuss the issues facing southern Nevada’s veteran community.

“We owe it to the men and women who have served our country to ensure that government policies are working for them, not against them,” Rep. Heck said. “HUD’s flawed aid and attendance policy is working against our must vulnerable veterans, making it more difficult for them to stay in their homes. This simple fix allows veterans to use their full housing allowance for housing expenses and will therefore help reduce veterans homelessness, a goal we all share a moral obligation to achieve.”

Rep. Heck originally introduced the legislation in 2012 during the 112th Congress as H.R. 6361. In February of 2013, Heck again introduced the bill as H.R. 1742. Both bills passed the House but were not taken up by the Senate despite overwhelming bipartisan support in the House.

Background:

In order to receive aid and attendance benefits, severely disabled veterans must first establish their eligibility for a low-income pension which requires an adjusted gross annual income of less than $12,256 for a single veteran with no dependents. Once eligibility is determined, that same veteran can receive $8,191 in aid and attendance benefits annually to offset the cost of a personal care attendant and keep the veteran in his/her home.

The Congressional Research Service estimates that the median annual cost for a licensed home health aide is $18,179. The cost of an assisted living facility is $39,600, and the median cost of a room in a nursing home is between $73,000 and $81,000 annually.

 

Congressman Joe Heck represents Nevada’s Third Congressional District in the House of Representatives. He serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Prev postNext post

Related ItemsJoe heckveteransVulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act
Politics
May 19, 2015
N&V Staff

Related ItemsJoe heckveteransVulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act

More in Politics

Some Good, Bad & Ugly to Kick Off 2021…

Annie BlackJanuary 2, 2021
Read More

Announcing 2020’s Nevada Conservative of the Year Awards

N&V StaffJanuary 1, 2021
Read More

Even Criminals Themselves are Panning Catch-&-Release Lawlessness

N&V StaffDecember 14, 2020
Read More
Nevada judge blocks Trump campaign's

Nevada judge blocks Trump campaign’s bid to stop Clark County’s mail-in ballot counting

The Center SquareNovember 3, 2020
Read More

Dickman Returns Fire on Daly

N&V StaffOctober 16, 2020
Read More
Blue State Nevada

Nevada is no “blue state” — especially not this year

N&V StaffOctober 1, 2020
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Subscribe Free By Email

Looking for the best in breaking news and conservative views? Let Chuck do all the work for you! Subscribe to his FREE "Muth's Truths" e-newsletter.

* indicates required
Nevada News and Views
Nevada News & Views is an educational project of Citizen Outreach Foundation, a non-partisan IRS-approved 501(c)(3) organization. It is not associated or affiliated with any political party or group. Nevada News & Views is accessible by the public at no cost. It funds its operations through tax-deductible contributions from donors and supporters and does not accept government money or grants.

TAGS

Featured Article Nevada Politics Muth's Truths business government Government Opinion Obama News Donald Trump Ron Knecht GOP Republicans Adam Laxalt

Copyright © 2021 Citizen Outreach | Maintained by VirtualAlly

Yucca Mountain, politics versus facts!
Stephanopoulos