Do Vets Need a Dedicated Special Assistant to Ensure They Have Access to Public Housing Programs? (H.R. 251)

What is H.R. 251?

(Updated April 18, 2019)

This bill establishes a Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs within the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs would be responsible for:

• Ensuring veterans receive fair access to HUD housing and homeless assistance programs;

• Coordinating all HUD programs and activities relating to veterans;

• Serving as a HUD liaison with the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA).

In creating this position, HUD would simultaneously eliminate a Special Assistant for Veterans Programs in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs.

The Secretaries of HUD and VA would be required to report annually to Congress regarding homelessness among veterans and housing assistance programs available to them.

Argument in favor

More needs to be done to ensure that veterans have adequate housing, and having part of the HUD bureaucracy focus on that goal and brief Congress on them annually is a worthwhile effort.

Argument opposed

This bill really doesn’t do anything other than move one bureaucrat from one office to another and require additional reporting. Veterans deserve more assistance than that.

Impact

Veterans who are homeless, jobless, or in danger of losing their homes; HUD housing programs for veterans, the VA, and HUD.

Cost of H.R. 251

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Al Green (D-TX) believes that the passage of this legislation would:

“improve coordination of services for homeless veterans as well as require annual assessments that will help prevent low-income veterans from falling into homelessness and those who are already homeless.”

During the 113th Congress, this bill’s predecessor was passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 420 to 3. It also passed the House by a 414 to 5 margin in the 112th Congress, 417 to 2 in the 111th Congress, and 412 to 9 in the 110th Congress — but it has not received a vote in the Senate at any point during those sessions of Congress.

Of Note: Homeless veterans comprise as much as 12 percent of the total homeless population in the U.S. While there are approximately 49,333 veterans that are homeless on any given night in the U.S., an estimated 1.4 million are considered to be at risk of homelessness.

According to a report from December 2013, there were about 700,000 veterans who were incarcerated in prisons and jails. In April 2015 there were over 507,000 unemployed veterans, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Al Green (D-TX) Press Release
• National Low Income Housing Coalition (In Favor)