STRIVE Act Mandates VA to Fix Racial Disparities in Veteran Disability Benefits Within Three Years

The new Strengthening Transparent Reporting to Improve Veteran Equality Act of 2025 (STRIVE Act) is a direct response to some tough data: Black veterans, particularly men, have historically faced lower approval rates for VA disability benefits compared to their peers. This bill doesn’t just ask nicely; it mandates a top-to-bottom data audit and requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement a three-year, publicly reported plan to fix the problem.

The Data Audit: Connecting Discharge to Denial

Congress is zeroing in on a critical issue: the connection between military discipline and post-service benefits. A Department of Defense report previously found that Black service members are more likely to face disciplinary actions, which can lead to a less-than-honorable discharge characterization. That characterization can, in turn, disqualify a veteran from receiving VA disability benefits.

The STRIVE Act tackles this by requiring the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to produce a massive report within 180 days of the bill becoming law. This report will look back 15 years, breaking down statistics by race, ethnicity, and gender. The GAO must track not only who applied for and received VA benefits, but also who was denied specifically because of their discharge status. Crucially, the GAO must also determine if there are disparities in the success rate of veterans trying to appeal and change their discharge characterization through the review boards—and if those disparities link back to the lower benefit approval rates.

The VA’s Three-Year Fix-It Plan

This is where the rubber meets the road. Within 365 days of enactment, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs must take the GAO’s findings and post an initial report publicly. That report must identify every significant cause of racial, ethnic, or gender disparity in VA disability benefits. It’s not enough to just identify the problem, though; the VA must simultaneously present a detailed three-year plan to address each identified cause.

For veterans, this means the process should become more transparent and equitable. If the GAO finds, for example, that certain regional VA offices have statistically lower approval rates for women veterans, the VA’s three-year plan must outline specific training, policy changes, or process adjustments to correct that issue. Implementation of this plan must start immediately, and the VA must post annual progress reports on a public website until the three years are up. This ensures that the VA can’t just write a report and shelve it; they have to publicly show their work and their results.

Why This Matters to Everyone

If you’re a veteran—especially one from a minority group—this bill is designed to ensure your service and resulting disabilities are treated fairly, regardless of your background. If you’re a taxpayer, this is a push for government accountability, using hard data to eliminate systemic bias and ensure that benefits meant for those who served are distributed equally. It’s a move toward fixing a documented problem where, according to a 2023 GAO report cited in the bill, Black, non-Hispanic applicants were 14 percent less likely to be approved for disability benefits than their White counterparts. The STRIVE Act is essentially putting the VA on the clock to turn that statistic around.