WASHINGTON — Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Dave McCormick (R-PA), and Katie Britt (R-AL) introduced the bipartisan Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act (HUDVA) to help homeless disabled veterans access crucial housing support. The bill would permanently exclude veterans’ disability payments from annual income for housing assistance eligibility purposes under the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program.
The HUD-VASH program plays a pivotal role in addressing veteran homelessness by combining rental assistance from HUD along with supportive services from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Unfortunately, some disabled veterans receiving disability payments were previously unable to access veterans housing programs like HUD-VASH because HUD has historically included disability benefits as part of their total income. Last year, because of the advocacy of Senator Gallego and other members of Congress, HUD finally changed its policies to exclude VA disability benefits from income for purposes of eligibility for the HUD-VASH program. This bill would codify this policy change to ensure that access continues permanently.
“It is devastating when I see fellow veterans on the streets. Arizona is in the midst of a housing crisis, and it is too often our disabled veterans who are impacted most,”said Senator Gallego. “This bipartisan bill makes a simple, commonsense fix to get more disabled veterans into safe, affordable housing, and I’m proud to give it my support.”
In Arizona alone, nearly 1,000 veterans are homeless.
“Veterans who have given so much for our country’s freedom deserve the right to a stable roof over their heads,” said Senator Padilla. “Outdated income definitions shouldn’t mean that some of our country’s most disabled veterans are unable to access the housing assistance they need to survive. This simple, bipartisan fix would permanently exclude disability benefits from the HUD-VASHincome eligibility calculation to ensure our most vulnerable veterans have a safe place to sleep at night.”
“As an Army veteran, I’ve seen firsthand how difficult the return to civilian life can be for so many servicemembers. Making this small correction would be a huge step toward helping our nation’s heroes obtain the support they have earned and finally tackle the epidemic of veteran homelessness,” said Senator McCormick. “I’m proud to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on behalf of those who have sacrificed so much for America.”
“Our nation’s veterans who made tremendous sacrifices to serve our country and protect their fellow Americans deserve our utmost support to help access housing opportunities,” said Senator Britt. “This commonsense bill would simply exclude disability benefits from HUD’s annual income calculation, so disabled veterans are not unfairly disqualified from accessing these vital services. I will always work to ensure our veterans and servicemembers are treated like the heroes that they are.”
Full text of the legislation is available HERE.
4/11/25