Press Releases
House Passes Titus Bill to Increase Veterans’ Cost of Living Adjustments and Provide Priority Claims Processing
Washington, DC,
February 16, 2016
February 9, 2016
The legislation will mandate the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs to automatically increase disability assistance payments when the Social Security Administration approves a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). The Consumer Price Index Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) will determine the COLA increases. The VA secretary will increase disability payments by the rate at which Social Security Administration raises its benefits. It will also increase compensation for dependents, clothing allowances, and compensation for surviving spouses and children. The legislation will also accelerate benefits claims applications with the Department of Veterans Affairs for the terminally ill, homeless, Medal of Honor recipients, former prisoners of war, sexual trauma victims, and others who served in the military. February 9, 2016 Today Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada’s First Congressional District praised the U.S. House of Representatives for passing H.R. 677, American Heroes COLA Act of 2015. The bipartisan legislation will provide automatic Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) to veterans when the Social Security Administration approves increases to the benefits it provides to qualified Americans. Rep. Titus, the ranking Democratic member in the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, worked with the subcommittee chairman, Ralph Abraham, M.D., R-LA, to cosponsor the bill. Below is the statement Titus made on the House floor in support of the bill and remarks from Rep. Abraham. “Unlike with Social Security COLA increases, Congress must act each year to provide veterans with the COLA increases they need and deserve,” Rep. Titus said. “Our nation’s heroes should receive these increases automatically each year, in a timely fashion, removed from the political vagaries of Capitol Hill. By permanently adjusting benefits to include cost of living increases, we are providing critical peace of mind to those who have bravely served this country.” "The American Heroes COLA Act is a bill that’s been a long time coming,” Rep Abraham said. “Our veterans have earned - and deserve - the right to automatically receive cost of living adjustments, rather than be dependent on the whims of Congress to see that their basic needs are met. I appreciate the efforts of Rep. Titus and our fellow VA Committee members in passing this important bipartisan legislation that will benefit our nation’s heroes." |