Texas Border Business
WASHINGTON — The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced an update to the definition of annual income for veterans trying to access services through the HUD-Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, to now exclude service-connected disability benefits from income eligibility calculations. Before this change, VA disability benefits may have caused a veteran to exceed the income threshold to receive assistance under the HUD-VASH program. This meant that those that most need support, our disabled veterans, were often negatively impacted by how income was defined.
Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz (TX-15) championed this fix within the House Financial Services Committee and applauded this change, stating, “Veterans should not have to decide between VA benefits and housing, and receiving disability benefits should NOT limit a veteran from housing assistance. As I have said before, ensuring our homeless disabled veterans have access to the housing they need is not just a moral imperative, it’s a debt of honor owed to those who have sacrificed so much for our country.”
In May, De La Cruz was proud to co-lead with Rep. Brad Sherman (CA-32) the introduction of the Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act (H.R. 8340), which mandated HUD to amend its’ current policies to exclude VA disability benefits from HUD-VASH annual income eligibility calculations.
