Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act of 2026
Officially: “Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act of 2026” Read the full text
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1Short title
This section would let the Act be called the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act of 2025.
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1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act of 2025 .
2Increase in rates of certain disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation under laws administered by Secretary of Veterans Affairs
This section would add two new benefits to title 38 of the United States Code, the law covering veterans' benefits. First, for a veteran who already qualifies for a monthly aid and attendance allowance under subsection (r) or subsection (t) of section 1114 of title 38, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs would have to pay that veteran an extra supplemental monthly allowance of $833.33, on top of the total compensation the veteran otherwise receives under section 1114. This added payment would take effect on December 1, 2026, and would apply to that month and every month after. Second, whenever Social Security benefit amounts under title II of the Social Security Act increase because of a cost-of-living determination made under section 215(i) of that Act, the Secretary would have to increase, effective the same date, the dollar amounts paid for dependency and indemnity compensation under paragraph (1) and paragraph (3) of section 1311(a) of title 38. The increase would equal the percentage by which the Social Security benefits increased, plus one additional percentage point. Whenever this increase happens, the Secretary would have to publish the new dependency and indemnity compensation amounts in the Federal Register at the same time the Social Security Administration publishes the material for its own cost-of-living determination. This automatic increase requirement would take effect on December 1, 2026, applying to months beginning on or after that date, and would stop after it has occurred five times.
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2. Increase in rates of certain disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation under laws administered by Secretary of Veterans Affairs (a) Increase to rates of wartime disability compensation (1) In general Section 1114 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (u) In the case of a veteran eligible for a monthly aid and attendance allowance under subsection (r) or subsection (t) of this section, the Secretary shall, in addition to the total amount of compensation for which the veteran is eligible under this section, pay the veteran a supplemental monthly allowance at the rate of $833.33. . (2) Effective date; applicability Subsection (u) of such section (as added by paragraph (1)) shall take effect on December 1, 2026, and shall apply to months beginning on or after such date. (b) Increase to rates of dependency and indemnity compensation Section 5312 of such title is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (d) (1) Whenever there is an increase in benefit amounts payable under title II of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 401 et seq. ) as a result of a determination made under section 215(i) of such Act ( 42 U.S.C. 415(i) ), the Secretary shall, effective on the date of such increase in benefit amounts, increase the dollar amounts in effect for the payment of dependency and indemnity compensation by the Secretary under paragraph (1) and paragraph (3) of section 1311(a) of this title, as such amounts were in effect immediately before the date of such increase in benefit amounts payable under title II of the Social Security Act, by a percentage equal to the sum of— (A) the percentage by which such benefit amounts are increased; and (B) one percent. (2) Whenever there is an increase under paragraph (1) in amounts in effect for the payment of dependency and indemnity compensation, the Secretary shall publish such amounts, as increased pursuant to such paragraph, in the Federal Register at the same time as the material required by section 215(i)(2)(D) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 415(i)(2)(D) ) is published by reason of a determination under section 215(i) of such Act ( 42 U.S.C. 415(i) ). (3) The requirement to increase the amounts in effect for the payment of dependency and indemnity compensation by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (1) shall— (A) take effect on December 1, 2026, and shall apply with respect to months beginning on or after such date; and (B) terminate after the date on which the fifth increase to such amounts pursuant to such paragraph occurs. .
3Modification of waivers of fees collected for housing loans guaranteed, insured, or made by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
This section would change how the housing loan fee under section 3729 of title 38 can be applied. The existing fee rule in paragraph (1) of subsection (c) would become subject to a new exception added as paragraph (2) of that subsection. Under new paragraph (2), starting on the date this Act is enacted and continuing through September 30, 2035, a fee could be collected for a subsequent loan (as defined in subsection (b) of section 3729) from a veteran who is receiving compensation for a disability, or who would be entitled to receive that compensation but is instead receiving retirement pay or active service pay, when the disability is rated at 70 percent or less. A new paragraph (3) would state that this fee-collection authority actually takes effect on August 1, 2026, and applies to months beginning on or after that date. The existing paragraph (2) of subsection (c) would be renumbered as paragraph (4) to make room for the two new paragraphs.
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3. Modification of waivers of fees collected for housing loans guaranteed, insured, or made by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Section 3729(c) of such title is amended— (1) in paragraph (1), by striking A fee and inserting Subject to paragraph (2), a fee ; (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (4); and (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new paragraphs: (2) During the period beginning on the date of the enactment of the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act of 2025 and ending on September 30, 2035, a fee may be collected under this section— (A) for a subsequent loan (as such term is defined in subsection (b)); and (B) from a veteran who is receiving compensation (or who, but for the receipt of retirement pay or active service pay, would be entitled to receive compensation) on the basis of a disability rated at 70 percent or less. (3) The authority under paragraph (2) shall take effect on August 1, 2026, and shall apply with respect to months beginning on or after such date. .
Where it is
In the House.