The bill
Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act
HR. 965, 119th Congress — read as touching Real Estate.
Sponsored by
Rep. Sherman, Brad [D-CA-32]
ID: S000344
Follow the money
The bill
HR. 965, 119th Congress — read as touching Real Estate.
The sponsor
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
26 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
The alignment
This bill's text tracks the "Introduction" section, p. 542-544 of the Mandate for Leadership.
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
February 10, 2025
📍 Current Status
Next: Both chambers must agree on the same version of the bill.
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Another masterpiece of legislative theater, brought to you by the same geniuses who think a "Support Our Troops" bumper sticker is an actual policy.
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act (HR 965) claims to address the pressing issue of homeless disabled veterans. How noble. Its primary objective is to exclude certain disability benefits from income calculations when determining eligibility for supported housing programs under Section 8(o)(19). Because, you know, our brave men and women in uniform deserve a roof over their heads... as long as it's not too expensive.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 by inserting new clauses (iv) and (v) into Section 3(b)(4). These changes exclude disability benefits received under chapters 11 or 15 of title 38, United States Code, from income calculations for supported housing programs. Oh, but don't worry, this exclusion only applies to the definition of adjusted income... unless it doesn't. Because who needs clarity in legislation?
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects:
* Disabled veterans (the ones who actually need help) * The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary (who gets to pretend they're doing something meaningful) * Lobbyists for disability advocacy groups (who will no doubt claim victory, even if the bill does nothing substantial) * Congressional sponsors (who get to pat themselves on the back for "supporting our troops")
**Potential Impact & Implications:** Let's be real; this bill is a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. It might help a handful of disabled veterans, but it doesn't address the root causes of homelessness or provide meaningful support. The exclusion of disability benefits from income calculations will likely create more bureaucratic red tape and confusion.
The real impact? More photo ops for politicians, more feel-good press releases, and more empty promises to our nation's heroes. Meanwhile, the actual problems persist: inadequate funding, inefficient bureaucracy, and a lack of comprehensive solutions.
Diagnosis: This bill is suffering from a severe case of " Politician-itis" – a disease characterized by grandstanding, empty rhetoric, and a complete disregard for meaningful policy changes. Treatment? A healthy dose of skepticism, a strong stomach, and a willingness to call out the obvious lies and half-measures that plague our legislative system.
Prognosis: Guarded. The patient (our nation's veterans) will likely continue to suffer from neglect and bureaucratic inefficiency, while the politicians responsible for this bill will pat themselves on the back for "doing something."
Rep. Sherman, Brad [D-CA-32]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
No PAC contributions found
No committee contributions found
This bill has 10 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
ID: D000594
Top Contributors
10
ID: L000582
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ID: L000593
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ID: C001112
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ID: G000583
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ID: B001285
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ID: C001127
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ID: B001315
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ID: F000454
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ID: S000250
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10
Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 61 nodes and 41 connections (54 secondary connections hidden)
Total contributions: $152,449
Showing top 21 donors by contribution amount
Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 2 helped.
Section 2 excludes certain disability benefits from income for determining eligibility for supported housing programs, which could increase demand for housing and benefit the real estate industry (cited in Section 2 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 amendment)
The bill's focus on supporting unhoused disabled veterans may lead to increased funding or resources for long-term care facilities that serve this population (implied in the bill's title and Section 2 amendments)
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.
— 509 — Department of Housing and Urban Development 3. Repeal the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulation reinstituted under the Biden Administration30 and any other uses of special-purpose credit authorities to further equity.31 4. Eliminate the new Housing Supply Fund.32 l The Office of the Secretary should recommence proposed regulation put forward under the Trump Administration that would prohibit noncitizens, including all mixed-status families, from living in all federally assisted housing.33 HUD’s statutory obligations include providing housing for American citizens who are in need. HUD reforms must also ensure alignment with reforms implemented by other federal agencies where immigration status impacts public programs, certainly to include any reforms in the Public Charge regulatory framework administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Local welfare organizations, not the federal government, should step up to provide welfare for the housing of noncitizens. l The Office of the Secretary should execute regulatory and subregulatory guidance actions, across HUD programs and applicable to all relevant stakeholders, that would restrict program eligibility when admission would threaten the protection of the life and health of individuals and fail to encourage upward mobility and economic advancement through household self-sufficiency. Where admissible in regulatory action, HUD should implement reforms reducing the implicit anti-marriage bias in housing assistance programs,34 strengthen work and work-readiness requirements,35 implement maximum term limits for residents in PBRA and TBRA programs,36 and end Housing First37 policies so that the department prioritizes mental health and substance abuse issues before jumping to permanent interventions in homelessness.38 Notwithstanding administrative reforms, Congress should enact legislation that protects life and eliminates provisions in federal housing and welfare benefits policies that discourage work, marriage, and meaningful paths to upward economic mobility. l The AS or PDAS for the Office of Policy Development and Research should suspend all external research and evaluation grants in the Office of Policy Development and Research and end or realign to another office any functions that are not involved in the collection and use of data and survey administration functions and do not facilitate the execution of regulatory impact analysis studies.
— 509 — Department of Housing and Urban Development 3. Repeal the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulation reinstituted under the Biden Administration30 and any other uses of special-purpose credit authorities to further equity.31 4. Eliminate the new Housing Supply Fund.32 l The Office of the Secretary should recommence proposed regulation put forward under the Trump Administration that would prohibit noncitizens, including all mixed-status families, from living in all federally assisted housing.33 HUD’s statutory obligations include providing housing for American citizens who are in need. HUD reforms must also ensure alignment with reforms implemented by other federal agencies where immigration status impacts public programs, certainly to include any reforms in the Public Charge regulatory framework administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Local welfare organizations, not the federal government, should step up to provide welfare for the housing of noncitizens. l The Office of the Secretary should execute regulatory and subregulatory guidance actions, across HUD programs and applicable to all relevant stakeholders, that would restrict program eligibility when admission would threaten the protection of the life and health of individuals and fail to encourage upward mobility and economic advancement through household self-sufficiency. Where admissible in regulatory action, HUD should implement reforms reducing the implicit anti-marriage bias in housing assistance programs,34 strengthen work and work-readiness requirements,35 implement maximum term limits for residents in PBRA and TBRA programs,36 and end Housing First37 policies so that the department prioritizes mental health and substance abuse issues before jumping to permanent interventions in homelessness.38 Notwithstanding administrative reforms, Congress should enact legislation that protects life and eliminates provisions in federal housing and welfare benefits policies that discourage work, marriage, and meaningful paths to upward economic mobility. l The AS or PDAS for the Office of Policy Development and Research should suspend all external research and evaluation grants in the Office of Policy Development and Research and end or realign to another office any functions that are not involved in the collection and use of data and survey administration functions and do not facilitate the execution of regulatory impact analysis studies. — 510 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise l FHA leadership should increase the mortgage insurance premium (MIP) for all products above 20-year terms and maintain MIP for all products below 20-year terms and all refinances. FHA should encourage wealth-building homeownership opportunities, which can be accomplished best through shorter-duration mortgages.39 Ideally, Congress would contemplate a fundamental revision of FHA’s statutory restriction of single-family housing mortgage insurance to first-time homebuyers.40 This would include (with support from HUD leadership): 1. Moving the Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) program once again to its own special risk insurance fund. 2. Revising loan limit determinations. 3. Providing statutory flexibility for shorter-term products that amortize principal earlier and faster. l Statutorily restricting eligibility for first-time homebuyers and abandoning the affirmative obligation authorities erected for the single-family housing programs across federal agencies and government-sponsored enterprises.41 l The HUD Secretary should move the HUD Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) from PIH to the Office of Housing, which already implements property standards in its multifamily housing lending programs through the multifamily accelerated processing (MAP) lending guidelines. Giving HUD the authority to streamline the enforcement of compliance with housing standards across the federal government and flexibility for physical inspections through private accreditation should also be considered. l HUD should maintain its requested budget authority for modernization initiatives that are applicable to the Office of the Chief Information Officer and program offices across the department. LONGER-TERM POLICY REFORM CONSIDERATIONS42 Congress has charged HUD principally with mandates for construction of the nation’s affordable housing stock in addition to setting and enforcing standards for decent housing and fair housing enforcement. Regardless of intent, HUD’s efforts have yielded mixed results at best. Even today, more than a half-century after Congress put enforcement of so-called fair housing in the hands of the HUD bureaucracy, implementation of this policy is muddled by the repeated applica- tion of affirmative race-based policies. Also, the production mandate for HUD’s
Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.