115th Congress Legislation
Passed Committee
H.R. 369: The Eliminating the Sunset Date of the Choice Act
The Eliminating the Sunset Date of the Choice Act, introduced by Chairman Phil Roe, M.D., would eliminate the statutory sunset date for the Choice Program and instead allow the program to continue until the original funding has been expended.Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
Read the bill here.
Passed House
H.R. 1259: The VA Accountability First Act of 2017
The VA Accountability First Act of 2017, introduced by Chairman Phil Roe, M.D., would provide the VA Secretary increased flexibility to remove, demote, or suspend any VA employee, including Senior Executive Service employees, for performance or misconduct. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
This legislation, introduced by Health Chairman Brad Wenstrup, would establish a recruiting database to make high-quality potential employees aware of positions at VA and create opportunities for career training and advancement for current VA employees through fellowship positions and a promotional track for technical experts. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
H.R. 1181: Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act
The Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act, introduced by Chairman Phil Roe, M.D., would prohibit VA from considering any beneficiary who is assisted by a fiduciary as “mentally defective” without a magistrate or judicial authority ruling that the beneficiary is a danger to themselves or others. Click here for more information. Read the bill here. This legislation passed the House with bipartisan support on March 16, 2017 and is supported by the National Disability Rights Network and the National Rifle Association.
The WINGMAN Act, introduced by Chairman Phil Roe, M.D., allows designated permanent, full time Congressional staffers to look up the status of a veteran's claim on VA’s database—but only if the veteran has given the staffer permission. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
The HIRE Vets Act, introduced by Chairman Phil Roe, M.D., as amended, would require the Department of Labor to establish a HIRE Vets Medallion Program to recognize companies for their efforts to employ veterans. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
H.R. 974: Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment (BRAVE) Act
The BRAVE Act, introduced by Chairman Phil Roe, M.D., is designed to boost veteran employment by allowing VA to give preference when awarding procurement contracts to government contractors who employ veterans on a fulltime basis. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
H.R. 27: The Ensuring VA Employee Accountability Act
The Ensuring VA Employee Accountability Act, introduced by Chairman Phil Roe, M.D., would require all reprimands and admonishments given to VA employees to remain in their file for as long as they are employed by the department. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
H.R. 28: The Biological Implant Tracking and Veterans Safety Act
The Biological Implant Tracking and Veterans Safety Act, introduced by Chairman Phil Roe, M.D., directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to adopt the FDA’s unique device identification system (UDI) for labeling of all biological implants and to implement an automated inventory system to ensure veterans do not receive expired or otherwise contaminated tissue. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
Introduced
H.R. 1564: The VA Beneficiary Travel Act of 2017
The VA Beneficiary Travel Act of 2017, introduced by Rep. Jack Bergman, would clarify that VA is authorized to use mandatory funds to pay the cost of beneficiary travel for contract examinations. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
H.R. 918: The Veteran Urgent Access to Mental Health Care Act
The Veteran Urgent Access to Mental Health Care Act, introduced by Rep. Mike Coffman, would require VA to provide an initial mental health assessment and any subsequent mental health services required to meet urgent mental health care needs to former servicemembers who would otherwise be ineligible for such services because they were discharged from military service under other-than-honorable conditions. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
H.R. 1662: Draft legislation, to Prohibit Smoking in Any VHA Facility
H.R. 1662, introduced by Health Chairman Brad Wenstrup, would prohibit smoking in any VHA facility. Under this legislation, smoking would be banned inside VHA facilities immediately and outside VHA facilities within five years. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
H.R. 1545: The VA Prescription Drug Accountability Act
The VA Prescription Drug Accountability Act would clarify current law to stipulate that VHA is required to disclose information to state controlled substance monitoring programs for anyone – veteran or non-veteran – who is prescribed these medications through VA. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
H.R. 1461: Veterans, Employees and Taxpayer (VET) Protection Act
Veterans, Employees and Taxpayer (VET) Protection Act, introduced by Economic Opportunity Chairman Jodey Arrington, would require VA to track the use of official time and prohibit employees involved with direct patient care from spending more than 25% of their time on union activities and any VA employee from spending more than 50% of their time on union activities. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
H.R. 1390: To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to pay costs relating to the transportation of certain deceased veterans to veterans' cemeteries owned by a State or tribal organization.
H.R. 1390, introduced by Rep. Jim Banks, would expand the VA Secretary’s authority to pay for transportation costs if the families choose to have deceased veterans buried in a national cemetery, state veterans cemetery or tribal veterans cemetery. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
H.R. 1329: The Veterans’ Compensation COLA Act of 2017
The Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2017, introduced by DAMA Chairman Mike Bost and Ranking Member Elizabeth Esty, would increase the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities as well as the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans as of December 1st, 2017. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.
H.R. 1328: The American Heroes COLA Act of 2017
The Veterans' Compensation COLA Act of 2017, introduced by DAMA Chairman Mike Bost and Ranking Member Elizabeth Esty, would ensure that whenever Social Security recipients receive a COLA, the VA Secretary is authorized to provide an automatic cost-of-living adjustment for compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities. Click here for more information. Read the bill here.