Simplifying Forms for Veterans Claims Act
Officially: “Simplifying Forms for Veterans Claims Act” Read the full text
What it does
Read it in plain language
1Short title
This section gives the Act the short title "Simplifying Forms for Veterans Claims Act."
Show official text
1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Simplifying Forms for Veterans Claims Act .
2Independent assessment of forms that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs sends to claimants
This section would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, no later than 30 days after the Act becomes law, to seek to enter into an agreement with a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) to assess the forms the Secretary sends to people claiming benefits under laws the Secretary administers. The FFRDC that enters that agreement would have to give the Secretary a written assessment of those forms, prepared in consultation with covered entities, and that assessment must include the FFRDC's recommendations on how the Secretary could make the forms clearer to claimants and better organized. Within 90 days after the Secretary receives the assessment, the Secretary would have to submit a copy of it to the House and Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs and would have to implement whichever recommendations in it comply with the laws the Secretary administers. The Secretary would have to finish implementing those recommendations no later than two years after the date the Secretary starts that implementation. For purposes of this section, an FFRDC means a federally funded research and development center. Covered entities includes at least the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, an expert in the laws the Secretary administers, a veterans service organization recognized under section 5902 of title 38, United States Code, and an entity that advocates for veterans and survivors of veterans, but the law does not limit covered entities to only those four. A claimant has the meaning given that term in section 5100 of title 38, United States Code.
Show official text
2. Independent assessment of forms that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs sends to claimants (a) Agreement Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall seek to enter into an agreement with an FFRDC for an assessment of forms that the Secretary sends to claimants. (b) Assessment An FFRDC that enters to an agreement under subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary a written assessment, made in consultation with covered entities, of such forms. The assessment shall include the recommendations of the FFRDC regarding how the Secretary may make such forms clearer to claimants and better organized. (c) Report; implementation Not later than 90 days after the Secretary receives the assessment under subsection (b), the Secretary shall— (1) submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a copy of such assessment; and (2) implement the recommendations in the assessment that are in compliance with the laws administered by the Secretary. (d) Deadline for implementation The Secretary shall complete the implementation of such recommendations pursuant to subsection (c)(2) by not later than two years after the date on which the Secretary commences such implementation. (e) Definitions In this section: (1) The term FFRDC means a federally funded research and development center. (2) The term covered entities includes— (A) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; (B) an expert in laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; (C) a veterans service organization recognized under section 5902 of title 38, United States Code; and (D) an entity that advocates for veterans and survivors of veterans. (3) The term claimant has the meaning given such term in section 5100 of title 38, United States Code.
Where it is
In the House.