Washington delivered a nearly perfect example of The Give and Take this week.

Congress considered a massive package called the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act. It contains more than 60 provisions affecting veterans’ health care, disability benefits, caregivers, surviving spouses, education, and other services.

There is a great deal in the bill that veterans’ organizations support.

The problem is how Congress proposes to pay for some of it.

What Congress Is Trying to Give

The legislation includes several proposals that have received broad support from veterans and advocacy organizations.

Among them is the Major Richard Star Act, which would allow approximately 59,000 combat-disabled veterans who were medically retired before completing 20 years of service to receive both their military retirement pay and their VA disability compensation.

Under the current system, many of these veterans effectively lose part of their retirement pay when they receive disability compensation.

The larger package also includes expanded support for severely disabled veterans, caregivers, surviving spouses, mental health services, prosthetic care, spinal cord injury treatment, and other veterans’ programs. Supporters describe it as one of the largest expansions of veterans’ benefits and services in years.

That is the give.

Here Comes the Take

The controversy is that part of the package would be financed through future changes to the VA’s disability rating system.

The proposal would change how the VA evaluates and compensates future claims involving tinnitus, which is persistent ringing or other noise in the ears, and sleep apnea, a condition that causes interrupted breathing during sleep.

Current disability ratings would reportedly be protected. The concern is that veterans filing new claims in the future could receive lower disability compensation than they might receive under today’s rules.

That created a significant split among veterans’ organizations.

The American Legion, Wounded Warrior Project, AMVETS, and several other organizations supported allowing the overall package to continue through Congress, while acknowledging concerns about how the benefits would be financed.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars took a much harder position.

The VFW supports many of the benefits contained in the legislation, including the Major Richard Star Act. But it argues that Congress should not expand benefits for one group of veterans by reducing potential disability compensation for a future generation of veterans.

Put plainly, the VFW’s position is that the federal government should pay its obligations to veterans rather than asking other veterans to pick up the bill.

That is exactly the kind of tradeoff veterans need to understand before accepting the title of a bill at face value.

What Happened in the House

The House debated the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act on Thursday, July 16.

An attempt to send the legislation back to the Veterans’ Affairs Committee failed by a razor-thin vote of 210 to 211. The House then postponed final action on the bill rather than completing the vote on passage. As of July 17, the legislation has not become law.

That means no veteran’s disability rating or compensation has changed because of this legislation.

The bill is still being negotiated, and the funding dispute remains unresolved.

Why This Matters to Veteran Homeowners

Disability compensation is not merely a line in a government budget.

For many veterans, it is an important part of the household income used to pay the mortgage, property taxes, insurance, utilities, medical expenses, and everyday living costs.

It may also be considered when a veteran applies for a mortgage or refinance. A reduction in future disability compensation could therefore affect more than the monthly benefit itself. It could affect household purchasing power, financial stability, and a veteran’s ability to qualify for housing.

Veterans should also be careful not to react to a proposal as though it is already law.

Current beneficiaries should not assume their ratings are being reduced. Active-duty servicemembers and veterans considering future claims should follow the legislation, but they should not delay filing a legitimate claim based on political rumors or social media headlines.

Meanwhile, the Actual VA Home Loan Bill Is Sitting Still

Congress has also introduced the VA Home Loan Affordability Act, legislation specifically aimed at making VA financing faster, less expensive, and more competitive.

The bill would make several meaningful changes, including:

• Allowing the VA to waive an appraisal on certain refinances.
• Reducing the required interest-rate improvement for certain adjustable-rate refinances from two percentage points to three-quarters of a percentage point.
• Removing a separate VA project-approval requirement for condominium loans.
• Limiting certain closing costs paid by the veteran.
• Requiring more regular reviews of debt-to-income standards.
• Directing the VA to modernize the technology used to administer its home loan program.

That is the legislation most directly connected to veteran homebuyers and homeowners.

But the congressional hearing scheduled for June 25 to consider the bill was postponed. The VA Home Loan Affordability Act remains an introduced proposal and has not passed the House or Senate.

In other words, Congress is moving a massive package covering dozens of veterans’ issues while the legislation specifically designed to improve the VA home loan process remains parked in committee.

What About the New National Housing Law?

The recently enacted 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is not specifically a veterans’ bill.

Veterans are affected because they are homebuyers, homeowners, renters, and members of the broader housing market. Measures intended to encourage construction, reduce development delays, expand manufactured housing, and limit some institutional purchases of existing homes could eventually improve housing availability.

But the law does not immediately lower VA mortgage rates or directly change the fundamental VA home loan benefit. Its primary impact is expected to come through longer-term improvements to the overall housing supply.

It deserves mention, but it is not the main veterans’ story this week.

The Bottom Line

Congress is proposing a long list of valuable improvements for veterans.

The argument is not simply over whether those benefits are worthwhile. The argument is over whether future disabled veterans should receive less compensation to help pay for benefits being expanded today.

That is the real Give and Take.

Veterans should support meaningful improvements, but they should also read past the title of the legislation and ask the question Washington frequently avoids:

What are veterans being given, what might be taken away, and who is actually paying the bill?

Veteran homeowners who are having trouble making their mortgage payment should not wait for Congress. They should contact their mortgage servicer immediately and may also contact the VA Loan Guaranty Service at 877-827-3702, option 6, to discuss available home-retention options.

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Clay Edmonds is the Corporate Educator and Complete Mortgage Advisor at Complete Mortgage LLC in Hollywood, Florida, and the creator of MortgageSimplified.net. With over four decades of experience in real estate finance, Clay focuses on simplifying the mortgage process and helping borrowers and real estate professionals make smarter financing decisions. Solutions@MortgageSimplified.net