California Republican Rep. Michelle Steel helped introduce a bipartisan bill seeking to expand housing support for veterans, having the potential to assist thousands of homeless service members.
California Republican Rep. Michelle Steel introduced a bipartisan bill to expand housing support for veterans, potentially helping thousands of former service members who are homeless.
Steel, along with Nevada Democrat Rep. Susie Lee and Maryland Democrat David Trone, introduced a bill in May 2023 seeking to help veterans with housing support.
“This legislation will support VAREP in expanding its services available to military and veteran communities, in southern Nevada and beyond, to further sustainable homeownership, financial-literacy education, VA home loan awareness, and economic opportunity generally,” the legislation stated.
Within the last year, the homeless veterans population has seen a significant surge, with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUB) reporting an increase of 7.4%, according to the New York Post. With the overall number of homeless veterans having decreased since 2010, there were reportedly 35,574 homeless veterans in the U.S. on a single night within January 2023, the outlet reported.
The legislation would potentially be the first congressional charter to the organization which would help in navigating veterans to “their VA housing benefits and meet their homeownership needs,” according to the legislation.
Steel stated that while the issue is a “tragic and avoidable problem,” over “40 percent” of veterans who leave their active service have no plans “for permanent housing” organized, the legislation stated.
“More than 40 percent of service members leave active service without a plan for permanent housing,” Steel stated. “Veteran homelessness is a tragic and avoidable problem. After sacrificing so much for our nation, our veterans deserve better. That is why I am proud to introduce this legislation to make VAREP’s services more easily accessible to our active service members and veteran communities.”
Steel has previously advocated for veterans, helping to open up the Satellite Veterans Service office at the Joint Forces Training Base-Los Angeles, her site stated. Since the office opening, it has been able to help veterans access services such as benefits, disability pension claims, as well as counseling.
