A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 2.2-2001.7, relating to Department of Veterans Services; benefit awareness and access; program.
HB514 would require the Virginia Department of Veterans Services to create a comprehensive outreach program aimed at helping military service members transitioning to civilian life, veterans, members of the Virginia National Guard, members of the Armed Forces Reserves who reside in Virginia, and their family members. The program’s purpose is to make these individuals aware of, and able to more easily access, federal, state, and local benefits and services available to them.
The bill also requires the Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services to report the program’s outcomes in the department’s annual report to the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, the Governor, and the General Assembly. That report must include the outreach initiatives carried out under the program and the results of those efforts.
If enacted, HB514 would add a new section to the Code of Virginia, § 2.2-2001.7, creating an express statutory duty for the Department of Veterans Services to coordinate benefit-awareness outreach with other state agencies, localities, and service providers. It would not create new benefits, but it would formalize a statewide access-and-navigation program for eligible service members, veterans, Guard and Reserve members, and their families, and it would add reporting obligations to existing annual reporting requirements under § 2.2-2004.
The available legislative history suggests generally favorable support for the bill. It advanced in Finance and Appropriations by a unanimous 15-0 vote and was continued to the next session rather than rejected, indicating no recorded opposition in the available materials. The absence of committee transcript discussion limits insight into detailed debate, but the vote outcome points to broad agreement on the value of improving veterans’ access to benefits and services.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded dissenting votes, any concerns are not visible here. If there were objections, they may have related to program costs, administrative burden, or overlap with existing outreach efforts, but those issues are not stated in the record provided.