Veterans Health and Benefits Improvement Act of 2013
Latest action. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 258.
Veterans Health and Benefits Improvement Act of 2013 - Title I: Survivor and Dependent Matters - (Sec. 101) Extends the period during which additional dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) will be paid to surviving spouses with children from two years to three years after their entitlement to DIC commences.
(Sec. 102) Provides that the remarriage after age 55 of a veteran's surviving spouse shall not bar the furnishing of Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) DIC, health care, educational assistance, and housing loans to that spouse. (Sec. 103) Extends the date before which a surviving spouse of a Persian Gulf War veteran must have been married to that veteran to qualify for death benefits from January 1, 2001, to ten years and one day after the Persian Gulf War was terminated. (Sec. 104) Expands the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship to include surviving spouses of service members who die in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001. (The Scholarship is currently provided to the children of those soldiers.) (Sec. 105) Expands eligibility for the Yellow Ribbon G.I. Education Enhancement Program (which provides public-private contributions for educational assistance in addition to post-9/11 educational assistance) to beneficiaries of the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship. (Sec. 106) Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Secretary) to provide, to any spina bifida-affected child of a veteran who served on active duty in Thailand beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, and who was exposed to a herbicide agent during such service, the same health care, vocational training and rehabilitation, and monetary allowance required to be paid to a similarly-affected child of a Vietnam veteran. (Sec. 107) Requires the Secretary to carry out a three-year program to assess the feasibility and advisability of providing assisted living, group home care, or similar services in lieu of nursing home care to children with spina bifida who are entitled to health care from the VA. (Sec. 108) Requires the Secretary to carry out a two-year program to assess the feasibility and advisability of providing grief counseling services in group retreat settings for surviving spouses of veterans who died while serving on active duty. (Sec. 109) Requires the Secretary to contract with a private entity to evaluate the Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance Program.
The summary continues for 26 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to Senate with amendment(s)" stage on December 9, 2013. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 9, 2013: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 258.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
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?
Bernard Sanders (I-VT) introduced it on May 14, 2013, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 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.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 14, 2013, 4867 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4658 days ago, on December 9, 2013.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers