II 

Calendar No. 117 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 106 

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 

JANUARY 26, 2023 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. CRAMER, Ms. 

KLOBUCHAR, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. KING, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. CASEY, 

and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

JULY 10, 2023 

Reported by Mr. TESTER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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 veterans, 

22 Alaska Native veterans, or Native Hawaiian vet23 erans, elderly veterans, women veterans, and vet24 erans from other underserved communities. 


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1 ‘‘(d) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall seek to en2 sure that grants awarded under this section are equitably 

3 distributed among States with varying levels of urbaniza4 tion. 

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

6 awarding grants under this section that will serve the fol7 lowing areas: 

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

9 tribal veterans service officers. 

10 ‘‘(2) Areas with high rates of— 

11 ‘‘(A) suicide among veterans; or 

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

13 ‘‘(f) USE OF COUNTY OR TRIBAL VETERANS SERV14 ICE OFFICERS.—A State that receives a grant under this 

15 section to carry out an activity described in subsection 

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

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

18 of the State; or 

19 ‘‘(2) if the State does not have a county or trib20 al veterans service officer, or if the county or tribal 

21 veterans service officers of the State cover only a 

22 portion of that State, an appropriate entity of a 

23 State, local, or tribal government, or another pub24 licly funded entity, as determined by the Secretary. 


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

2 under this section shall be used— 

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

4 and services; 

5 ‘‘(2) to hire new, additional county or tribal vet6 erans service officers; or 

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

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

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

10 section may be used to provide education and training, in11 cluding on-the-job training, for State, county, local, and 

12 tribal government employees who provide (or when trained 

13 will provide) veterans outreach services in order for those 

14 employees to obtain accreditation in accordance with pro15 cedures approved by the Secretary. 

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

17 develop and provide to each State that receives a grant 

18 under this section written guidance on the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) Outcome measures. 

20 ‘‘(B) Policies of the Department. 

21 ‘‘(2) In developing outcome measures under para22 graph (1), the Secretary shall consider the following goals: 

23 ‘‘(A) Increasing the use of veterans and vet24 erans-related benefits, particularly among vulnerable 

25 populations. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Increasing the number of county and trib2 al veterans service officers recognized by the Sec3 retary for the representation of veterans under chap4 ter 59 of this title. 

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

6 to each grant awarded under this section, the Secretary 

7 shall track the use of veterans and veterans-related bene8 fits among the population served by the grant, including 

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

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

11 the veteran receives the benefit, disaggregated by type of 

12 benefit. 

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

14 shall submit to Congress a report on the information 

15 tracked under paragraph (1). 

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

17 shall— 

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

19 receives a grant under this section; and 

20 ‘‘(B) make information regarding such perform21 ance publicly available. 

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

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

24 the outcome measures developed by the Secretary under 

25 subsection (i), the Secretary shall require the State to subVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S106.RS S106

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1 mit a remediation plan under which the State shall de2 scribe how and when it plans to meet such outcome meas3 ures. 

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

5 grant under this section to a State described in paragraph 

6 (1) unless the Secretary approves the remediation plan 

7 submitted by the State. 

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

9 awarded under this section may not exceed 10 percent of 

10 amounts made available for grants under this section for 

11 the fiscal year in which the grant is awarded. 

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

13 awarded under this section shall be used to supplement 

14 and not supplant State and local funding that is otherwise 

15 available. 

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

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

18 officer’ includes a local equivalent veterans service 

19 officer. 

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

21 toll-free hotline for veterans established under sec22 tion 1720F(h) of this title. 

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

24 Department under this section shall be budgeted and ap25 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 2023 through 2027, $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.’’. 

16 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

17 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commitment to Veteran 

18 Support and Outreach Act’’. 

19 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY FOR SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF20 FAIRS TO AWARD GRANTS TO STATES TO IM21 PROVE OUTREACH TO VETERANS. 

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

23 States Code, is amended— 


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•S 106 RS

1 (1) by redesignating sections 6307 and 6308 and 

2 sections 6308 and 6309, respectively; and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 6306 the following 

4 new section 6307: 

5 ‘‘§ 6307. Grants to States to improve outreach to vet6 erans 

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

8 provide for assistance by the Secretary to States to carry 

9 out programs that improve outreach and assistance to vet10 erans and the spouses, children, and parents of veterans, 

11 to ensure that such individuals are fully informed about, 

12 and assisted in applying for, any veterans and veterans13 related benefits and programs (including State veterans 

14 programs) for which they may be eligible. 

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

16 to States— 

17 ‘‘(1) to carry out, coordinate, improve, or other18 wise enhance— 

19 ‘‘(A) outreach activities; or 

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

21 and submittal of claims for veterans and vet22 erans-related benefits; or 

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

24 veterans service officers serving in the State by hiring 

25 new, additional such officers. 


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

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

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

4 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

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

6 shall include the following: 

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

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

9 which the State will meet the outcome measures devel10 oped by the Secretary under subsection (i). 

11 ‘‘(C) A description of how the State will dis12 tribute grant amounts equitably among counties with 

13 varying levels of urbanization. 

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

15 meet the unique needs of American Indian veterans, 

16 Alaska Native veterans, or Native Hawaiian veterans, 

17 elderly veterans, women veterans, and veterans from 

18 other underserved communities. 

19 ‘‘(d) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall seek to en20 sure that grants awarded under this section are equitably 

21 distributed among States with varying levels of urbaniza22 tion. 

23 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall prioritize award24 ing grants under this section that will serve the following 

25 areas: 


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

2 tribal veterans service officers. 

3 ‘‘(2) Areas with high rates of— 

4 ‘‘(A) suicide among veterans; or 

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

6 ‘‘(f) USE OF COUNTY OR TRIBAL VETERANS SERVICE

7 OFFICERS.—A State that receives a grant under this section 

8 to carry out an activity described in subsection (b)(1) shall 

9 carry out the activity through— 

10 ‘‘(1) a county or tribal veterans service officer of 

11 the State; or 

12 ‘‘(2) if the State does not have a county or tribal 

13 veterans service officer, or if the county or tribal vet14 erans service officers of the State cover only a portion 

15 of that State, an appropriate entity of a State, local, 

16 or tribal government, or another publicly funded enti17 ty, as determined by the Secretary. 

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

19 under this section shall be used— 

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

21 services; 

22 ‘‘(2) to hire new, additional county or tribal vet23 erans service officers; or 

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

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


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

2 section may be used to provide education and training, in3 cluding on-the-job training, for State, county, local, and 

4 tribal government employees who provide (or when trained 

5 will provide) veterans outreach services in order for those 

6 employees to obtain accreditation in accordance with proce7 dures approved by the Secretary. 

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

9 develop and provide to each State that receives a grant 

10 under this section written guidance on the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) Outcome measures. 

12 ‘‘(B) Policies of the Department. 

13 ‘‘(2) In developing outcome measures under paragraph 

14 (1), the Secretary shall consider the following goals: 

15 ‘‘(A) Increasing the use of veterans and veterans16 related benefits, particularly among vulnerable popu17 lations. 

18 ‘‘(B) Increasing the number of county and tribal 

19 veterans service officers recognized by the Secretary 

20 for the representation of veterans under chapter 59 of 

21 this title. 

22 ‘‘(j) TRACKING REQUIREMENTS.—(1) With respect to 

23 each grant awarded under this section, the Secretary shall 

24 track the use of veterans and veterans-related benefits 

25 among the population served by the grant, including the 


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1 average period of time between the date on which a veteran 

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

3 receives the benefit, disaggregated by type of benefit. 

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

5 shall submit to Congress a report on the information 

6 tracked under paragraph (1). 

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

8 shall— 

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

10 receives a grant under this section; and 

11 ‘‘(B) make information regarding such perform12 ance publicly available. 

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

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

15 the outcome measures developed by the Secretary under sub16 section (i), the Secretary shall require the State to submit 

17 a remediation plan under which the State shall describe 

18 how and when it plans to meet such outcome measures. 

19 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may not award a subsequent grant 

20 under this section to a State described in paragraph (1) 

21 unless the Secretary approves the remediation plan sub22 mitted by the State. 

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

24 awarded under this section may not exceed 10 percent of 


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1 amounts made available for grants under this section for 

2 the fiscal year in which the grant is awarded. 

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

4 awarded under this section shall be used to supplement and 

5 not supplant State and local funding that is otherwise 

6 available. 

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

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

9 officer’ includes a local equivalent veterans service of10 ficer. 

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

12 toll-free hotline for veterans established under section 

13 1720F(h) of this title. 

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

15 Department under this section shall be budgeted and appro16 priated through a separate appropriation account. 

17 ‘‘(2) In the budget justification materials submitted to 

18 Congress in support of the Department budget for any fiscal 

19 year (as submitted with the budget of the President under 

20 section 1105(a) of title 31), the Secretary shall include a 

21 separate statement of the amount requested to be appro22 priated for that fiscal year for the account specified in 

23 paragraph (1). 

24 ‘‘(q) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

25 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for each of 


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1 fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025, $50,000,000 to carry out 

2 this section.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at 

4 the beginning of chapter 63 of such title is amended by 

5 striking the items relating to sections 6307 and 6308 and 

6 inserting the following new items: 

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

‘‘6308. Outreach for eligible dependents. 

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


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Calendar No. 117 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 106 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorand for other purposes. grants to States to improve outreach to veterans, ize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to award 

JULY 10, 2023 

Reported with an amendment 


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