Rep. Mike Levin Announces New Federal Policy Changes to Expand Veterans’ Access to Affordable Housing & Combat Veteran Homelessness
Rep. Levin is Joined by HUD Official, Service Provider, & Formerly Homeless Veteran
Watch Rep. Levin’s Press Conference Here
Encinitas, CA— Today, Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has made new federal policy changes to expand veterans’ access to rental assistance and affordable housing programs to combat veteran homelessness across the country. The new changes implemented by HUD will end the agency’s prior policy of counting veterans’ disability benefits as income for the purposes of rental assistance. This will enable thousands of homeless and low-income veterans to become eligible for housing vouchers.
California is home to around one third of all homeless veterans in the United States. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) point-in-time count from January 2023, there were nearly 11,000 homeless veterans in California. As of the January 2024 point-in-time count, there were 865 homeless veterans in San Diego County.
HUD’s new policies will no longer consider service-connected disability benefits as income and therefore allow more veterans to access HUD-VASH housing vouchers. Before this change, these benefits were considered income when determining eligibility for housing assistance—causing some veterans to exceed the income eligibility threshold for these housing programs. This especially presented a problem for veterans hoping to use their HUD-VASH vouchers for units funded by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), which has a stricter income threshold.
Going forward, veterans will not be denied admission to supportive housing subsidized by HUD-VASH due to their service-connected disability benefits. HUD has announced that they are working with the Treasury Department to ensure that this policy change extends to units funded by the LIHTC program. HUD is also working with state and local governments that fund affordable housing projects to encourage them to adopt the updated definition of income.
“These policy changes will make a tremendous impact in getting homeless veterans off the streets and into affordable housing units for a stable future,” said Rep. Levin. “We know that having a stable home produces better life outcomes and our veterans deserve nothing less. Now, veterans will not have their disability benefits held against them when applying for rental assistance. I thank HUD for acting and heeding my call to do more to help homeless veterans. Our nation’s heroes should never go hungry, unemployed, or without a place to call home.”
These HUD changes are a direct result of Rep. Levin’s advocacy and Congressional work to exclude veterans’ benefits from being counted as income for the purposes of qualifying for rental assistance. For almost two years, Rep. Levin has worked with HUD and the White House’s Domestic Policy Council to push for these policy changes.
In December 2022, Rep. Levin sent a letter to HUD and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requesting the Final Rule implementing the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 include language excluding veteran disability compensation from income calculations for the purposes of HUD programs. This language was not included in the Final Rule published in February 2023, but Rep. Levin continued to advocate tirelessly for the Administration to make this change. Rep. Levin and his staff met repeatedly with Administration officials to advocate for an administrative fix. In May 2024, Rep. Levin and Rep. Brad Sherman (CA-32) introduced H.R. 8340, the Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act, a bipartisan bill to exclude disability compensation and pension benefits received by a veteran from HUD’s definition of income for the purposes of HUD-VASH and other types of housing assistance for any household receiving HUD-VASH rental assistance. Rep. Levin also joined Veterans Affairs Committee Ranking Member Mark Takano, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and mayors from around the country at a press conference in May 2024 to call for the Administration to make this change.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that every veteran has access to the housing and support they deserve. The recent policy changes and funding increases announced by Acting Secretary Todman bring us closer to ending veteran homelessness once and for all," said HUD Assistant Deputy Secretary Peter Hunter.
“Solving homelessness is not easy work, but providers like PATH are thankful for collaborative partners like Congressman Levin, the Biden Administration, HUD, and the Veterans Administration, who have been proactively working with us on solutions to end Veterans homelessness. Our PATH teams frequently encounter Veterans who must be turned away because they have too much income from their service-connected disability benefits to qualify for lifesaving programs—leaving some to choose between needed benefits and housing opportunities. Thankfully, this policy shift will allow more Veterans not only in San Diego County, but across the country, to get connected to housing and supportive services,” said Jonathan Castillo, PATH Chief Regional Officer.
“I was called to serve my country after September 11th and when I came home from Iraq, I was not the same. My PTSD caused me to fall into homelessness, substance abuse, and I committed crimes just to survive. Then I connected with the VA and PATH, and thanks to HUD-VASH, I was provided the support I needed to achieve sobriety and get connected to housing. The HUD changes announced today will help more Veterans like me find the support and stability they deserve,” said Isaac Estevez, U.S. Army Veteran.
More information on HUD’s policy changes can be found here.
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