House passes 6 bills aimed at helping veterans - will it help you?

2015-05-19T09:05:28-04:00

The House passed six bills aimed at veterans. One bill would give preference to government contractors who employ veterans on a full-time basis. Another bill would allow all veterans to receive official identification cards through the VA.

http://www.stripes.com/news/us/house-passes-6-bills-aimed-at-helping-veterans-1.346994

Response by SSG Kenneth Lanning made May 19 at 2015 9:11 AM

2015-05-19T09:11:04-04:00

Personally it won't (probably) help me; I'll be retired in 3 years unless I get a sequence number...anything to try to help vets is a plus in my book.

Response by SFC Douglas Duckett made May 19 at 2015 9:53 AM

2015-05-19T09:53:29-04:00

Overall, they seem to be on small targets. Most of the legislation will not impact the majority of Veterans (my opinion) in any significant way; I will not go as far as touchy feely, but....

It appears they are working on the homeless issue (something like 50K veterans last year were homeless or almost).

The ID card is a good thing. It will be recognized as valid ID, although I thought the new one I just received a few months ago was "valid ID".

The exclusion of payments provided by the VA for health expenses, like assisted living or nursing home care, from calculations of veterans' gross income when contemplating eligibility for federal public housing programs will help some.

Response by MSG Brad Sand made May 19 at 2015 11:13 AM

2015-05-19T11:13:06-04:00

First, it is just a bill, only a bill, sitting on Capital Hill.

In truth, I didn't see anything really different than what was already in place...but if the hiring managers are not required to follow the hiring preferences it is just a nice idea. I have found this the case a lot.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made May 19 at 2015 12:54 PM

2015-05-19T12:54:32-04:00

Big problems are best solved by taking baby steps. Hopefully these acts will find their way into law and help. Hopefully those that don't contribute to the overall solution will fail.

Too bad Congress didn't follow this process in attacking the problems in health care. Omnibus bills always exacerbate problems and create new ones...

Response by SPC Lyle Montgomery made Mar 4 at 2022 10:51 AM

2022-03-04T10:51:39-05:00

I hope that these bills pass. I doubt that any of these bills will affect me. I'm 70 and already benefiting from the VA healthcare system. I'm for anything that will help anyone serving now as well as vets. A lot of them have been getting underserved for too long.