Protecting Benefits for Disabled Veterans Act of 2023
Latest action · Jul 23, 2024 Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedNov 9, 2023
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Protecting Benefits for Disabled Veterans Act of 2023
This bill provides statutory authority for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to assign, for purposes of the disability compensation program, a disability rating of total to a veteran who meets certain parameters and is unable to secure or maintain substantially gainful employment due to a service-connected disability.
Specifically, the VA may make such a disability determination if a veteran has a service-connected disability rated at least 60%, or has two or more service-connected disabilities with one being at least 40% and a combined total of at least 70%. The VA may also make a determination on the disability rating in circumstances where a veteran meeting the specified parameters maintains marginal employment (income is less than the poverty threshold), or if the veteran maintains substantially gainful employment (exceeds the poverty threshold) and the VA determines that the rating is appropriate.
The bill prescribes what disabilities may be considered as one disability (e.g., disabilities incurred or aggravated as a prisoner of war).
The VA may not consider the age of a veteran or eligibility for retirement benefits when making any determination related to disability rating.
Cosponsors 24
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Nov 9, 2023 to Sep 24, 2024; 13 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-IN | André Carson | Original | Nov 9, 2023 |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Original | Nov 9, 2023 |
| D-IL | Danny K. Davis | Original | Nov 9, 2023 |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Original | Nov 9, 2023 |
| D-MA | James P. McGovern | Original | Nov 9, 2023 |
| D-IL | Janice D. Schakowsky | Original | Nov 9, 2023 |
| D-CA | Juan Vargas | Original | Nov 9, 2023 |
| D-CA | Mark Takano | Original | Nov 9, 2023 |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Original | Nov 9, 2023 |
| D-CA | Salud O. Carbajal | Original | Nov 9, 2023 |
| D-TX | Sheila Jackson Lee | Original | Nov 9, 2023 |
| D-LA | Troy A. Carter | Original | Nov 9, 2023 |
| D-TX | Veronica Escobar | Original | Nov 9, 2023 |
| D-NV | Dina Titus | Nov 13, 2023 | |
| D-CA | Judy Chu | Nov 13, 2023 | |
| D-CA | Julia Brownley | Nov 13, 2023 | |
| D-MD | Glenn Ivey | Nov 29, 2023 | |
| D-OH | Joyce Beatty | Dec 7, 2023 | |
| D-NY | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | Jan 31, 2024 | |
| D-MI | Daniel T. Kildee | Jan 31, 2024 | |
| D-MI | Rashida Tlaib | Jan 31, 2024 | |
| D-CA | Zoe Lofgren | Feb 15, 2024 | |
| D-DE | Lisa Blunt Rochester | Apr 9, 2024 | |
| D-TX | Joaquin Castro | Sep 24, 2024 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Veterans' Affairs Committee | Referred Nov 9, 2023 |
| Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee | Referred Nov 27, 2023Hearings Jul 10, 2024Markup Jul 23, 2024Reported Jul 23, 2024 |
Actions 6
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jul 23, 2024Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- Jul 23, 2024Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
- Jul 10, 2024Subcommittee Hearings Held
- Nov 27, 2023Referred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.
- Nov 9, 2023Introduced in House
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 169, no. 186, November 9, 2023, page H5671.
Printed hearings 2
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 118-73 | LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON H.R. 2971, H.R. 6362, H.R. 6507, H.R. 7729, H.R. 8792, H.R. 8854, H.R. 8910, H.R. 8893, H.R. 8874, H.R. 8881, H.R. 8879, H.R. XXXX, H.R. XXXX, H.R. 8880, H.R. XXXX, H.R. XXXX, H.R. XXXX, AND H.R. XXXX175 pages | Veterans' Affairs Committee | Jul 10, 2024 |
| Serial No. 118-67 | DOES A TOTAL DISABILITY RATING BASED ON INDIVIDUAL UNEMPLOYABILITY (TDIU) PROPERLY COMPENSATE TODAY'S VETERANS?66 pages | Veterans' Affairs Committee | Jun 12, 2024 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 4732 | Protecting Benefits for Disabled Veterans Act of 2021 | Reintroduction of | Sep 9, 2021 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend title 38, United States Code, to codify the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to assign a disability rating of total to a veteran by reason of unemployability, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Protecting Benefits for Disabled Veterans Act of 2023
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Nov 9, 2023Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
