I received this from Melanie at National Today.
Paul
Paul Kaufman, Secretary
Emerald Coast Regional Group
Blinded Veterans Association
Begin forwarded message:
From: Melanie Brunson <mbrunson@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Year-End Legislative Update
Date: December 21, 2018 at 1:23:23 PM CST
To: Melanie Brunson <mbrunson@xxxxxxx>
Hello all,
Before we get too much closer to the holidays, I wanted to send you one more
update on some of the doings in Washington D.C. While areas of disagreement
between members of Congress remain the focus of most of the news coverage
during the final days of the 115th Congress, members of both the House of
Representatives and the Senate have quietly taken action on several pieces of
legislation. These have included a couple bills of interest to veterans.
First, both the House and Senate recently passed and sent to the president a
package of provisions from approximately twenty other bills introduced
earlier this year by members of both political parties. The final bill, known
as the Veterans Benefits And Transition Act of 2018 contains provisions to:
Help protect student veterans when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) is late making payments to schools.
Improve burial access to national and tribal cemeteries for family members of
active duty service members and veterans by allowing VA to provide headstones
and markers for spouses and dependents of veterans who want to be buried
alongside their loved ones in a tribal veterans cemetery.
Require the VA to provide standardized and easy to understand debt notices to
veterans.
Expand benefits and support to military spouses and families.
Expand eligibility for the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program.
Study best practices among community programs providing transition assistance
for veterans.
Require the VA to report on the possibility of expanding veterans’ access to
dental care. By analyzing access and affordability through VA dental care,
oral health needs of eligible veterans, and the number of providers needed to
provide such care.
This package is now awaiting the president’s signature.
On December 20, the House of Representatives also voted to pass the VA
Website Accessibility Act of 2018, by a vote of 378 to 0. This was a
particularly sweet moment for BVA because we worked closely with the bill’s
sponsor, Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) and testified in support of this bill in
September. However, we were also very pleased when Rep. Mark Takano, (D-CA)
mentioned BVA during his comments in support of this bill on the House floor!
Rep. Takano said, “I rise today in support of H.R. 6418 , as amended, The
V.A. Website accessibility act of 2018. This bill from Representative Esty
mandates that the V.A. finally make all its websites compliant for visually
impaired individuals. This is a long overdue action that the blinded veterans
association has tirelessly advocated for to make V.A. Communications and
information fully accessible to everyone. And I am proud to support this
bill. I have no further speakers and urge my colleagues to vote in support of
H.R. 6418, as amended.”
This bill directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study of all
of the department’s websites, as well as individual elements such as
individual files housed on websites, and other applications issued by the
Department, to identify any that are not yet fully accessible to individuals
with disabilities, as defined by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973, as amended, and its implementing regulations. The Secretary is further
required to submit a report of his findings to Congress within 90 days after
completion of this study, along with a plan and timeline for addressing any
outstanding accessibility issues identified in the report.
Unfortunately, since this bill passed the House so close to the end of
Congress’s session, there may not be time for the Senate to take it up before
Senators leave for the holidays. However, there is strong bipartisan support
for the measure, so we expect it will be re-introduced early next year when
the new Congress convenes. This will mean starting the whole process over
with a new bill, but hopefully, the fact that the House previously passed a
similar bill will allow swift action by that body so it can be sent to the
Senate with plenty of time for them to take action on it.
In the meantime, we hpublicly thank the sponsor of the current bill, Rep.
Elizabeth Esty, for her efforts. We also thank Rep. Phil Roe, the current
chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, for his support for moving
the bill to the House floor.
The new Congress convenes on January 3. We will keep you apprised of its
activities. In the meantime, we send very warm wishes for a joyful holiday
and a healthy, happy and prosperous new year.
With warm regards and heartfelt thanks for all you do,
Melanie
Melanie Brunson
Director of Government Relations
Blinded Veterans Association
125 N. West St, 3rd Floor
Alexandria, VA 22314
(800) 669 7079
(202) 371 8880 ext. 305
(202) 371 8258 Fax
mbrunson@xxxxxxx <mailto:mbrunson@xxxxxxx>
