| H.R. 1171, currently in the House Veterans Affairs Committee, would extend the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) through 2014 and would create a parallel program for female veterans and veterans with children. The CBO has evaluated the legislation and estimates the program would cost $224 million over the four years the legislation would cover, without affecting direct spending or revenues. Additionally, the legislation does not contain any unfunded mandates that would affect the budgets of other governmental entities local, state or tribal.
The budgetary impact is detailed in the following table:
The legislation would continue to provide grants to agencies and organizations that provide vocational counseling, job training and placement for veterans who fall into homelessness once out of service. The current funding will expire the end of FY 2009 if the legislation is not passed to extend the program.
In addition, a grant program specifically targeted to female veterans and veterans with children would provide grants for all the serviced detailed above, as well as child care services.
I can't support this legislation strongly enough. We have an all volunteer military, and only two percent of the American people have any connection to military service at all. Think about that - two percent carry the ruck for the other ninety eight. Making sure that they have food, shelter and jobs after they serve is the least we can do. |
