WASHINGTON, DC – Area Congressman Lloyd Smucker is reintroducing bipartisan legislation called the Home for the Brave Act aimed at improving housing access and affordability for veterans. It would exempt veterans’ disability benefits from counting toward total income when determining eligibility for housing assistance programs through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Smucker said our veterans put their lives at great risk to keep all of us safe back home. To return home and be priced out of housing assistance simply because they receive service-related disability benefits is just plain wrong. Many veterans are determined ineligible for these housing programs because their disability benefits are placing them at a higher income level. Other agencies, including the IRS, do not consider veterans benefits for service-connected disabilities as income. A veteran filing disability claims with the VA received on average $20,600 in 2022. The bill has endorsement of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Military Officers Association of America.
REP. LLOYD SMUCKER