Ryan Kules and Paul Benne Specially Adaptive Housing Improvement Act of 2019
Latest action. Became public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) No: 116-154.
Ryan Kules and Paul Benne Specially Adaptive Housing Improvement Act of 2019
This bill revises the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Specially Adapted Housing Program and updates provisions related to educational assistance and the work-study allowance for veterans.
The Specially Adapted Housing Program provides grants to veterans and service members with certain service-connected disabilities to assist with constructing, purchasing, or remodeling homes to fit their needs. The program is comprised of two grants (1) the Specially Adapted Housing grant (for acquisition of housing with special features), and (2) the Special Housing Adaptation grant (for adaptations to a veteran's residence).
Specifically, the bill updates the eligibility for the program by including veterans with certain visual impairments and requiring those with the loss or loss of use of a lower extremity to meet other qualifications.
The bill raises the cap on grants that may be issued per veteran from three to six and raises the number of applications that may be approved for the Specially Adapted Housing grant from 30 to 120. The bill increases the maximum amount of assistance available under the Special Housing Adaptation grant program and also increases the aggregate amount of assistance available under both grant programs.
The bill also authorizes certain veterans to apply for additional assistance under both grants, subject to specified limitations.
Under the bill, individuals who are entitled to educational assistance through the Post-9/11 GI Bill are also entitled to payment for a covered preparatory course for licensure, certification, or national tests.
The bill updates provisions related to the work-study allowance benefit available to eligible veterans, including by prescribing the annual amount the VA must provide to educational institutions for the program.
Finally, the bill modifies the loan fee table under the VA's home loan guaranty program.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on August 8, 2020. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on August 8, 2020: Became Public Law No: 116-154.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) introduced it on June 26, 2019, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HousePassed
- SenatePassed
- PresidentSigned into law