A new Senate bill would permanently make a Biden administration policy easier for disabled veterans to qualify for a housing voucher program.
The Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act would permanently exclude disability benefits from being considered as part of a veteran's annual income when determining eligibility for the Department of Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, or HUD-VASH.
The bipartisan bill was introduced by a group of U.S. senators, including Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif.
The program provides rental assistance to veterans experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of becoming homeless.
Jonathan Castillo, the chief regional officer at the nonprofit PATH, told KPBS in August that the monthly financial benefit some disabled veterans received hurt their ability to qualify for HUD-VASH.
"That was always difficult to see — having to turn people away simply because they were receiving income that they were entitled to for being in (the) service," Castillo told KPBS when the policy change was announced.
But the change in policy at HUD was just that — a change in policy.
The new bill would make it law.
"Outdated income definitions shouldn’t mean that some of our country’s most disabled veterans are unable to access the housing assistance they need to survive," Padilla said in a statement.
To qualify, a veteran's income can't be more than 80% of the average median income.
Azucena Valladolid, the executive vice president of rental assistance at the San Diego Housing Commission, said that helped veterans in need of vouchers in San Diego qualify.
"What we typically see is that the veteran, including all of their income sources — such as service-connected disability — is still well under the 80% average median income requirement," she said.
There also hasn't been any significant change locally in determining eligibility after the new rule went into effect last year, Valladolid said.
A bipartisan companion bill is also in the works in the House.
