Garamendi votes to pass veteran housing bill
The bill helps fund a program to guarantee that eligible veterans can receive certain housing vouchers.
Earlier this week, Rep. John Garamendi, D-Solano, joined 361 of his congressional peers to pass the Veteran HOUSE Act of 2020.
Introduced by Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, aims to expand the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUDVASH) program to guarantee that chronically homeless veterans discharged under conditions otherthan-honorable, but not dishonorable, are eligible for HUD-VASH housing vouchers and supportive case management, according to Garamendi’s office.
“HUD-VASH provides critical housing vouchers and supportive services to veterans and their families to combat homelessness,” Garamendi said in a statement. “In 2019 alone, 90,749 veterans sought support from the program. As we work towards addressing homelessness in our state and nation, programs such as HUD-VASH play an instrumental role in ensuring that veterans have safe and reliable options for housing.”
The bill was passed by a vote of 362-31.
Garamendi has identified tackling veteran homelessness as a priority and, in a statement, he talked about some of the housing projects established or being worked on in Solano County.
“Last year, I worked with Habitat for Humanity to utilize HUD-VASH funds to build a housing facility for homeless veterans in Dixon,” he said. “Now, I’m using the same model to support the construction of a similar facility in Rio Vista. I will always work to support and expand this crucial program to combat veteran homelessness.”