Disabled Veterans Housing Support Act: VA Disability Pay Excluded from Housing Income Tests

The new Disabled Veterans Housing Support Act aims to clear a significant hurdle for veterans seeking housing assistance. Specifically, Section 2 mandates that when state, local, or tribal governments calculate income to determine eligibility for low-income or moderate-income housing programs, they must not count any service-connected disability compensation received from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Clearing the Path to Housing

Think about the income limits for programs like Section 8 or certain state-run affordable housing initiatives. For years, a veteran’s VA disability compensation—money intended to offset the real-world costs of a service-connected injury—was often counted as income, sometimes pushing them just over the eligibility line. This meant the very compensation meant to help them ended up disqualifying them from housing they needed. This new provision essentially says, “That disability pay is off-limits for income testing.”

For a disabled veteran relying on both a modest civilian income and VA compensation, this change could be the difference between qualifying for a stable, affordable apartment and being priced out. It recognizes that disability pay is not just 'income' in the traditional sense; it’s compensation for a sacrifice made and a necessity for managing life with a service-connected condition. By excluding this compensation, the bill directly increases the effective buying power and eligibility of disabled veterans for critical housing programs.

Holding HUD Accountable

Beyond the immediate change, the bill includes a crucial accountability measure in Section 3. It requires the Comptroller General of the United States (CG) to conduct a deep dive into how the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) currently treats service-connected disability compensation across all its programs, not just the ones covered by Section 2. The CG must identify any inconsistencies with this new rule and, more importantly, provide Congress with legislative recommendations on how to fix them.

This is the policy equivalent of checking the work. We're not just changing one rule; we're demanding a full audit to ensure consistency across the board. If the CG finds that other HUD programs are still penalizing disabled veterans by counting their compensation, the report will lay out exactly how Congress can change those rules. This section is a strong signal that the goal is not just to make a small fix, but to standardize how the federal government treats disabled veterans seeking assistance, ensuring that the benefit is a benefit—not a barrier.