A bill to amend the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019 to modify and reauthorize the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Summary
SB 793 would amend the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019 to revise and reauthorize the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program. The bill keeps the grant program in place through September 30, 2028 and increases the total authorized funding for fiscal years 2026 through 2028 to $285 million, up from the prior $174 million authorization for fiscal years 2021 through 2025.
The bill also makes several programmatic changes. It removes references to the President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide Task Force, broadens the Secretary of Veterans Affairs’ discretion to consult with other appropriate entities, and raises the maximum individual grant award from $750,000 to $1.25 million. In addition, it adds new reporting and accountability language requiring the Secretary to consider additional measures and metrics that better reflect the program’s goals and lessons learned, and it requires annual briefings for nearby VA medical centers to improve coordination with grantees.
Impact
If enacted, SB 793 would amend federal veterans’ mental health law by extending and expanding an existing VA suicide prevention grant program. It would increase authorized appropriations, change grant administration requirements, and add coordination and oversight provisions affecting the Department of Veterans Affairs, local VA medical centers, and nonprofit or other eligible grantees that provide suicide prevention services to veterans and their communities.
Sentiment
The available context suggests generally supportive sentiment, as the bill was introduced by Senators Warner and Boozman and referred to the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs without recorded opposition, votes, or hearing debate in the provided materials. The bipartisan sponsorship and the bill’s focus on veterans’ suicide prevention indicate a broadly favorable posture toward continuing and expanding the program.
Contention
No specific points of contention appear in the provided record because there are no committee transcripts or votes. Based on the text alone, the main policy choices are the larger funding authorization, the higher per-grant cap, and the shift toward broader Secretary discretion in selecting coordinating entities and defining performance metrics. Those provisions could matter to appropriators, oversight-focused lawmakers, and stakeholders concerned with how tightly the program is structured and measured, but no opposition is documented here.