U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., who sits on the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee, got his bill expanding U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) housing grants to the most severely disabled veterans through the U.S. House this week.
At the end of last month, Bilirakis, who had been the vice-chairman of the committee when the GOP controlled the U.S. House, brought out the “Ryan Kules Specially Adaptive Housing Improvement Act.”
The bill expands the VA’s Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) Grant Program which helps wounded veterans. Noting that he gathered input from several severely wounded veterans including U.S. Army Captain Ryan Kules, Bilirakis noted that the SAH grants have not been expanded in many years. The bill gives priority for SAH grants to veterans dealing with terminal illnesses and other medical conditions. The legislation would also let veterans apply six times for SAH grants as opposed to just three and increases the cap of Post 9/11 veterans who have lost a limb in the service of the country from 30 a year to 120. The bill also increases the SAH grant payments cap by 15 percent and increased the number of VA officials working on them.
Bilirakis was able to get the bill through the Veterans Affairs Committee on Monday and it passed the full House on a voice vote on Tuesday.
“This vote is a great step toward ensuring wounded veterans have access to flexible resources to adapt their homes, which helps meet their changing needs throughout life,” said Kules who is now the director of combat stress recovery with the Wounded Warrior Project. “The proposed changes will reduce financial stress for families like mine who use or need the Specially Adapted Housing benefit, and it will give them more peace of mind, freedom, and comfort in their homes. I’m grateful for the representatives who supported this act, and I look forward to its swift passage in the Senate.”
Bilirakis pointed to Kules testifying to the U.S. House VA Economic Opportunity Subcommittee last year as one of the reasons he introduced the bill.
“When I heard of the challenges Ryan faced when he wanted to buy a new home to accommodate his growing family, because he could not use the SAH benefit a second time due to program limitations, I knew something needed to be done,” said Bilirakis. “Many of these young and severely wounded warriors are returning home in their early twenties. As they mature and their circumstances change through marriage, the birth of additional children, etc. they need a benefit that changes with them so that they can fully enjoy their lives. Our bill helps to make that happen.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., the chairman of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee and U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., who leads the GOP on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, cosponsored the bill.
The Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and the Wounded Warrior Project are backing the proposal.
There is a similar bill in the upper chamber backed by U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Ks.
