Press Releases
Finstad Applauds Passage of Landmark Veterans Package
November 19, 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brad Finstad (MN-01), member of the House Armed Services Committee, voted in support of H.R. 8371, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, a package of bipartisan, bicameral provisions to modernize the delivery of healthcare, benefits, and services at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), expand access to job training and employment opportunities, address veteran homelessness, and more.
The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act contains provisions from two pieces of legislation led by Rep. Finstad, including the bipartisan Commitment to Veteran Support and Outreach (CVSO) Act, and the Better Examiner Standards and Transparency for Veterans (BEST for Vets) Act.
“We owe it to our veterans and their families to give them the best care we can provide. The veteran community deserves to know that their needs are prioritized, which is why it is critical that we make the investments necessary to make the VA work better for our nation’s heroes,” said Rep. Finstad. “I am proud that the House passed this legislation to improve the timeliness and quality of care for those who have served our country by putting in place these much-needed improvements.”
The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act is a legislative package that includes bipartisan, bicameral provisions, such as:
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The Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act (H.R. 542) which would expand access to Home- and Community-Based Services at every VA medical center, which would allow severely ill and aging veterans the dignity of receiving their care at home rather than in institutions.
- The Veterans Care Improvement Act (H.R. 3520) which would improve the timeliness and quality of care and services delivered to veterans under community care by improving the rate at which community care providers return medical records to the VA.
- The Housing our Military Veterans Effectively (HOME) Act (H.R. 3848) which would raise the Grant and Per-Diem rate for veteran homelessness providers who partner with VA and provide rideshares to veterans for medical, housing, and employment appointments and ensure veterans can get the resources they need to be lifted out of homelessness.
- The Veterans Education Assistance and Improvement Act (H.R. 3874) which would cut through red tape for the GI Bill and allow student veterans to use their benefits that best meet their needs.
- The Servicemember Employment Protection Act (H.R. 3943) which would modernize Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protections and increase accountability at the Department of Labor so that deployed National Guard and Reservists have the proper employment protections in place back when they return home.
- The Caregiver Outreach and Program Enhancement (COPE) Act (H.R. 3581) which would recognize the mental strain often experienced by caregivers of certain veterans by providing community mental health grants to help alleviate caregiver’s concerns about stigma.
- Gerald’s Law Act (H.R. 234), which would allow survivors of certain veterans who choose to die at home or while in receipt of VA hospice care, to receive a certain burial and funeral allowance. Currently, this allowance is provided to survivors of those veterans who passed away at a VA facility.
- The Commitment to Veteran Support and Outreach Act (H.R. 984), which would authorize VA to provide grants to state and Indian Tribes to support county Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) and tribal VSOs to provide improved outreach and assistance to underserved, rural, and Native American veterans regarding VA benefits.
- The Modernization of VA Disability Benefits Questionnaires Act (H.R. 4461), which would update IT systems and processes to ensure that disability examination reports completed by contracted disability examiners are standardized and machine-readable, which would improve efficiency in VA’s processing of disability compensation claims for veterans.
- The VA Office of Inspector General Training Act (H.R. 2733) which would require all new VA employees to receive training on reporting wrongdoing and cooperating with the VA Inspector General.
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The VA Medical Center Security Report Act of 2023 (H.R. 3504) which would require VA to conduct a survey of each of their facilities on security weaknesses and the status of their police force as well as provide a report on the results of these surveys to Congress.
For a section-by-section summary of H.R. 8371, click here.
