II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2405 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to award grants to States to improve outreach to veterans, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2021 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself and Mr. SULLIVAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs to award grants to States 

to improve outreach to veterans, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commitment to Vet5 eran Support and Outreach Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY FOR SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF2 FAIRS TO AWARD GRANTS TO STATES TO IM3 PROVE OUTREACH TO VETERANS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 63 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating sections 6307 and 6308 

7 and sections 6308 and 6309, respectively; and 

8 (2) by inserting after section 6306 the following 

9 new section 6307: 

10 ‘‘§ 6307. Grants to States to improve outreach to vet11 erans 

12 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 

13 provide for assistance by the Secretary to States to carry 

14 out programs that improve outreach and assistance to vet15 erans and the spouses, children, and parents of veterans, 

16 to ensure that such individuals are fully informed about, 

17 and assisted in applying for, any veterans and veterans18 related benefits and programs (including State veterans 

19 programs) for which they may be eligible. 

20 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may award grants 

21 to States— 

22 ‘‘(1) to carry out, coordinate, improve, or other23 wise enhance— 

24 ‘‘(A) outreach activities; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) activities to assist in the development 

2 and submittal of claims for veterans and vet3 erans-related benefits; or 

4 ‘‘(2) to increase the number of county or tribal 

5 veterans service officers serving in the State by hir6 ing new, additional such officers. 

7 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—(1) To be eligible for a grant 

8 under this section, a State shall submit to the Secretary 

9 an application therefor at such time, in such manner, and 

10 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

11 ‘‘(2) Each application submitted under paragraph (1) 

12 shall include the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) A detailed plan for the use of the grant. 

14 ‘‘(B) A description of the programs through 

15 which the State will meet the outcome measures de16 veloped by the Secretary under subsection (i). 

17 ‘‘(C) A description of how the State will dis18 tribute grant amounts equitably among counties 

19 with varying levels of urbanization. 

20 ‘‘(D) A plan for how the grant will be used to 

21 meet the unique needs of American Indian or Alaska 

22 Native veterans, elderly veterans, women veterans, 

23 and veterans from other underserved communities. 

24 ‘‘(d) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall seek to en25 sure that grants awarded under this section are equitably 


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1 distributed among States with varying levels of urbaniza2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall prioritize 

4 awarding grants under this section that will serve the fol5 lowing areas: 

6 ‘‘(1) Areas with a critical shortage of county or 

7 tribal veterans service officers. 

8 ‘‘(2) Areas with high rates of— 

9 ‘‘(A) suicide among veterans; or 

10 ‘‘(B) referrals to the Veterans Crisis Line. 

11 ‘‘(f) USE OF COUNTY OR TRIBAL VETERANS SERV12 ICE OFFICERS.—A State that receives a grant under this 

13 section to carry out an activity described in subsection 

14 (b)(1) shall carry out the activity through— 

15 ‘‘(1) a county or tribal veterans service officer 

16 of the State; or 

17 ‘‘(2) if the State does not have a county or trib18 al veterans service officer, or if the county or tribal 

19 veterans service officers of the State cover only a 

20 portion of that State, an appropriate entity of a 

21 State, local, or tribal government, or another pub22 licly funded entity, as determined by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(g) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—Any grant awarded 

24 under this section shall be used— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to expand existing programs, activities, 

2 and services; 

3 ‘‘(2) to hire new, additional county or tribal vet4 erans service officers; or 

5 ‘‘(3) for travel and transportation to facilitate 

6 carrying out paragraph (1) or (2). 

7 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—A grant under this 

8 section may be used to provide education and training, in9 cluding on-the-job training, for State, county, local, and 

10 tribal government employees who provide (or when trained 

11 will provide) veterans outreach services in order for those 

12 employees to obtain accreditation in accordance with pro13 cedures approved by the Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(i) OUTCOME MEASURES.—(1) The Secretary shall 

15 develop and provide to each State that receives a grant 

16 under this section written guidance on the following: 

17 ‘‘(A) Outcome measures. 

18 ‘‘(B) Policies of the Department. 

19 ‘‘(2) In developing outcome measures under para20 graph (1), the Secretary shall consider the following goals: 

21 ‘‘(A) Increasing the use of veterans and vet22 erans-related benefits, particularly among vulnerable 

23 populations. 

24 ‘‘(B) Increasing the number of county and trib25 al veterans service officers recognized by the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2405.IS S2405

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1 retary for the representation of veterans under chap2 ter 59 of this title. 

3 ‘‘(j) TRACKING REQUIREMENTS.—(1) With respect 

4 to each grant awarded under this section, the Secretary 

5 shall track the use of veterans and veterans-related bene6 fits among the population served by the grant, including 

7 the average period of time between the date on which a 

8 veteran applies for such a benefit and the date on which 

9 the veteran receives the benefit, disaggregated by type of 

10 benefit. 

11 ‘‘(2) Not less frequently than annually, the Secretary 

12 shall submit to Congress a report on the information 

13 tracked under paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(k) PERFORMANCE REVIEW.—(1) The Secretary 

15 shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) review the performance of each State that 

17 receives a grant under this section; and 

18 ‘‘(B) make information regarding such perform19 ance publicly available. 

20 ‘‘(l) REMEDIATION PLAN.—(1) In the case of a State 

21 that receives a grant under this section and does not meet 

22 the outcome measures developed by the Secretary under 

23 subsection (i), the Secretary shall require the State to sub24 mit a remediation plan under which the State shall deVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2405.IS S2405

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1 scribe how and when it plans to meet such outcome meas2 ures. 

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may not award a subsequent 

4 grant under this section to a State described in paragraph 

5 (1) unless the Secretary approves the remediation plan 

6 submitted by the State. 

7 ‘‘(m) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant 

8 awarded under this section may not exceed 10 percent of 

9 amounts made available for grants under this section for 

10 the fiscal year in which the grant is awarded. 

11 ‘‘(n) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Any grant 

12 awarded under this section shall be used to supplement 

13 and not supplant State and local funding that is otherwise 

14 available. 

15 ‘‘(o) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) The term ‘county or tribal veterans service 

17 officer’ includes a local equivalent veterans service 

18 officer. 

19 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Veterans Crisis Line’ means the 

20 toll-free hotline for veterans established under sec21 tion 1720F(h) of this title. 

22 ‘‘(p) FUNDING.—(1) Amounts for the activities of the 

23 Department under this section shall be budgeted and ap24 propriated through a separate appropriation account. 


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1 ‘‘(2) In the budget justification materials submitted 

2 to Congress in support of the Department budget for any 

3 fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the President 

4 under section 1105(a) of title 31), the Secretary shall in5 clude a separate statement of the amount requested to be 

6 appropriated for that fiscal year for the account specified 

7 in paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(q) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for each 

10 of fiscal years 2022 through 2026, $50,000,000 to carry 

11 out this section.’’. 

12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

13 at the beginning of chapter 63 of such title is amended 

14 by striking the items relating to sections 6307 and 6308 

15 and inserting the following new items: 

‘‘6307. Grants to States to improve outreach to veterans. 

‘‘6308. Outreach for eligible dependents. 

‘‘6309. Biennial report to Congress.’’. 

Æ 


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