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S. 2264, the Advancing VA's Emergency Response to (AVERT) Crises Act of 2025, would strengthen the Department of Veterans Affairs' ability to respond to natural disasters, pandemics, and other emergencies. The bill has passed committee review and is eligible for a floor vote. If enacted, it would require the VA to submit detailed reports to Congress outlining the roles and responsibilities of all VA offices involved in emergency management, analyze the organizational structure of these offices during normal and emergency operations, and identify ways to eliminate redundancy and improve accountability.
The bill would also require the VA to increase coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during emergencies and examine whether the Department's Regional Readiness Centers are being used effectively. Additionally, the VA would need to work with FEMA to develop a plan for facilitating fuel sharing during emergencies. The Congressional Budget Office estimates implementation costs would be less than $500,000 over five years. The legislation addresses lessons learned from the VA's response to recent natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Congress
119th Congress
Introduced
Jul 14, 2025
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held.
Dec 10, 2025
Dec 10, 2025 · 21:00
The Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs held a hearing on December 11, 2025, to examine 27 bills aimed at improving various veteran benefits and services. The bills covered a broad range of topics including allowing Purple Heart recipients to transfer educational benefits to family members, establishing a VA Office of Falls Prevention, creating a firearm secure storage program for veterans, expanding burial benefits, improving the efficiency of benefits claims processing, ensuring veterans in secrecy oath programs receive earned benefits, expanding access to critical access hospitals, and addressing toxic exposure research for descendants of exposed service members. The hearing also addressed emergency management capabilities at the VA, death certification procedures, educational assistance for examinations, veteran fraud prevention, hyperbaric oxygen therapy access, rural veteran partnerships, temporary lodging for service members, and community integration platforms for veteran services. No witnesses were listed for this hearing, which examined legislation addressing multiple aspects of veteran healthcare, education, burial, and support services. The bills represent efforts to streamline VA operations, expand access to care in underserved areas, and provide additional benefits to veterans and their families. A hearing does not guarantee that any of these bills will advance to a vote or become law; the committee will need to determine which bills, if any, merit further consideration and action.
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Mar 18, 2026
Mar 18, 2026 · 16:00
On March 18, 2026, the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs held a business meeting to consider a wide-ranging slate of legislation designed to improve the lives of veterans, their survivors, and their families. The meeting focused on more than 20 individual bills addressing critical gaps in current Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) services. Key proposals included S.342, which would allow Purple Heart recipients to transfer unused Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to family members, and S.649, which seeks to expand education eligibility for National Guard members. Other significant measures, such as the Molly R. Loomis Research for Descendants of Toxic Exposed Veterans Act, aimed to fund research into the health conditions of children whose parents were exposed to toxic substances during military service. The committee also reviewed administrative and healthcare reforms, such as S.1657, which prevents the VA from denying benefit claims solely because a veteran missed a medical exam, and S.3138, which would provide specialized prosthetics for veterans participating in sports and recreation. Additional bills addressed rural healthcare access, emergency management capabilities, and the timely certification of death certificates by VA medical staff. By bundling these diverse issues into a single business meeting, the committee signaled an effort to streamline legislative improvements across the VA's educational, medical, and cemetery administrations. Because this was a business meeting to consider the legislation, the committee's primary goal was to discuss the merits of the bills and potentially vote on whether to report them to the full Senate for further consideration. While the meeting represents a significant step in the legislative process, it does not guarantee that any of the bills will become law. Each measure must still pass the full Senate and the House of Representatives before being sent to the President for a signature.
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held.
Dec 10, 2025
Dec 10, 2025 · 21:00
The Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs held a hearing on December 11, 2025, to examine 27 bills aimed at improving various veteran benefits and services. The bills covered a broad range of topics including allowing Purple Heart recipients to transfer educational benefits to family members, establishing a VA Office of Falls Prevention, creating a firearm secure storage program for veterans, expanding burial benefits, improving the efficiency of benefits claims processing, ensuring veterans in secrecy oath programs receive earned benefits, expanding access to critical access hospitals, and addressing toxic exposure research for descendants of exposed service members. The hearing also addressed emergency management capabilities at the VA, death certification procedures, educational assistance for examinations, veteran fraud prevention, hyperbaric oxygen therapy access, rural veteran partnerships, temporary lodging for service members, and community integration platforms for veteran services. No witnesses were listed for this hearing, which examined legislation addressing multiple aspects of veteran healthcare, education, burial, and support services. The bills represent efforts to streamline VA operations, expand access to care in underserved areas, and provide additional benefits to veterans and their families. A hearing does not guarantee that any of these bills will advance to a vote or become law; the committee will need to determine which bills, if any, merit further consideration and action.
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Mar 18, 2026
Mar 18, 2026 · 16:00
On March 18, 2026, the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs held a business meeting to consider a wide-ranging slate of legislation designed to improve the lives of veterans, their survivors, and their families. The meeting focused on more than 20 individual bills addressing critical gaps in current Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) services. Key proposals included S.342, which would allow Purple Heart recipients to transfer unused Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to family members, and S.649, which seeks to expand education eligibility for National Guard members. Other significant measures, such as the Molly R. Loomis Research for Descendants of Toxic Exposed Veterans Act, aimed to fund research into the health conditions of children whose parents were exposed to toxic substances during military service. The committee also reviewed administrative and healthcare reforms, such as S.1657, which prevents the VA from denying benefit claims solely because a veteran missed a medical exam, and S.3138, which would provide specialized prosthetics for veterans participating in sports and recreation. Additional bills addressed rural healthcare access, emergency management capabilities, and the timely certification of death certificates by VA medical staff. By bundling these diverse issues into a single business meeting, the committee signaled an effort to streamline legislative improvements across the VA's educational, medical, and cemetery administrations. Because this was a business meeting to consider the legislation, the committee's primary goal was to discuss the merits of the bills and potentially vote on whether to report them to the full Senate for further consideration. While the meeting represents a significant step in the legislative process, it does not guarantee that any of the bills will become law. Each measure must still pass the full Senate and the House of Representatives before being sent to the President for a signature.
