Bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) to expand Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) eligibility for blind and seriously injured U.S. military veterans on July 20 received approval in the U.S. House of Representatives and is headed to the president’s desk to be signed into law.
“I am pleased the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass this important legislation and look forward to President Trump signing this legislation into law,” Sen. Moran said on Monday.
In June 2019 Sen. Moran introduced the Ryan Kules and Paul Benne Specially Adaptive Housing Improvement Act of 2019, S. 2022, which with lead cosponsor U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) to provide for improvements to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ SAH program. The House and Senate had been reconciling differences between S. 2022 with the same-named H.R. 3504.
“This legislation will serve veterans by expanding SAH eligibility qualifications for blind and disabled veterans,” said Sen. Moran. “This modernized and expanded grant program will allow veterans to utilize vital SAH grants in a way that best fit their needs, providing greater support, and improving the quality of life for many of our nation’s veterans.”
When enacted, the bill also will double the maximum number of awarded grants from three to six per veteran and increase the number of authorized applications per fiscal year from 30 to 120, according to Sen. Moran’s office.
“On the behalf of the Wounded Warrior Project, I thank Senator Moran for his great fidelity to our nation’s veterans and his leadership in passing the Specially Adaptive Housing Improvement Act of 2019,” said Ryan Kules, director of Combat Stress Recovery Programs at the Wounded Warrior Project and one of the veterans for whom the bill is named.
“This important bill will help thousands of seriously wounded, injured and ill veterans make necessary improvements to their homes to make them safer, more navigable, and more responsive to their needs,” Kules said.