HB 1102: Increasing Support and Services for Veterans (2025 Regular Session)

Summary

House Bill 1102, State of Washington, 2025 Regular Session, is an act relating to increasing support and services for veterans, prefiled 12/19/24 and referred to the Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans. The findings state that approximately 530,000 resident veterans live in Washington but only 158,000 receive federal benefits, and that expanding the veterans service officer program is estimated at $160,000 per year for each additional county. The department must contact veterans within 90 days of receipt of a discharge notice and report to the governor and legislative committees beginning December 1, 2026, and every two years thereafter. The bill also creates a veterans service officer fund in the custody of the state treasurer.

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Full text

     H-0255.1

                                HOUSE BILL 1102


     State of Washington       69th Legislature       2025 Regular Session

     By Representatives Shavers, Ryu, Leavitt, Callan, Simmons, Goodman,
     Wylie, Nance, Fosse, and Reeves

     Prefiled 12/19/24. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
     on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans.




1        AN ACT Relating to increasing support and services for veterans;
2    amending RCW 43.60A.230 and 43.60A.235; adding a new section to
3    chapter 43.60A RCW; and creating a new section.


4    BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:


 5       NEW SECTION.   Sec. 1.   The legislature finds that veterans are
 6   eligible for state and federal benefits, but may be unaware of those
 7   benefits or the process to apply for them. Veterans service officers
 8   serve a critical role in assisting veterans and their families with
 9   identifying and applying for federal benefits, including health care,
10   service-connected     disability,    nonservice-connected     pension,
11   employment, education, housing, burial, and survival benefits. The
12   federal department of veterans affairs provides over $6.5 billion per
13   year in benefits to veterans in Washington. The average veteran
14   receiving service-connected disability compensation benefits receives
15   over $1,700 per month.
16       The legislature further finds that nationwide, approximately 32
17   percent   of  veterans   receive  federal   disability   compensation.
18   Washington currently has approximately 530,000 resident veterans, but
19   only 158,000 veterans are receiving federal benefits. Currently,
20   veterans in 15 Washington counties receive benefits at or above the
21   national average, 21 counties are within 10 percent of the national
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 1   average, and three counties are more than 10 percent below the
 2   national average.
 3       Therefore, the legislature intends to expand the veterans service
 4   officer program started in 2019 to increase the number of veterans
 5   applying for and receiving federal benefits. The program's first
 6   veterans service officer assisting veterans in the identification of
 7   benefits and filing of claims increased the number of veterans
 8   applying for benefits from 13 in the first year to 323 in the third
 9   year, and from no annual disability payments to $2,696,524 in federal
10   benefits each year. The Washington state department of veterans
11   affairs' September 30, 2024, veterans service officer program report
12   estimates the cost to expand the program is $160,000 per year for
13   each additional county. The legislature intends to expand the program
14   by one to two veterans service officers per biennium beginning with
15   the counties with the lowest percentage of benefits received, until
16   all counties are at or above the national average.


17       NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.60A
18   RCW to read as follows:
19       The department must support veterans by providing information
20   regarding available veterans services. Subject to the availability of
21   amounts appropriated from the veterans service officer fund for the
22   specific purposes provided in this section, the department must:
23       (1) Contact veterans within 90 days of receipt of a discharge
24   notice from the department of defense and provide information about
25   veterans benefits and services;
26       (2) Provide county-specific information on the department website
27   identifying services and resources available to veterans using
28   information provided to the department by county veterans assistance
29   programs and local branches of nationally recognized veterans service
30   organizations; and
31       (3) Beginning December 1, 2026, and every two years thereafter,
32   report to the governor and the appropriate standing committees of the
33   legislature regarding veterans services. The report must include, at
34   a minimum:
35       (a) The number of veterans residing in each county;
36       (b) The number and type of veterans services available in each
37   county;
38       (c) The number of veterans served in the reporting period by the
39   department,   veterans   service   officer   program,   and   counties
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 1   contracting with the department for veterans services, including the
 2   number of veterans served who reside in an adjacent county;
 3       (d) The number of claims filed in the reporting period by
 4   veterans service organizations contracting with the department;
 5       (e) The percentage of veterans served in the reporting period who
 6   received   service-related    disability   and    nonservice-connected
 7   veterans' pensions; and
 8       (f) Identification of:
 9       (i) Each county where the percentage of the veteran population
10   receiving   service-related   disability    and   nonservice-connected
11   veterans' pensions is below the national average; and
12       (ii) Each county that does not provide access to a veterans
13   service officer through the veterans' assistance program defined in
14   RCW 73.08.005, through a contract with the department, through the
15   veterans service officer program described in RCW 43.60A.230, or
16   directly through the department.


17       Sec. 3.   RCW 43.60A.230 and 2019 c 223 s 1 are each amended to
18   read as follows:
19       (1) There is created in the department the veterans service
20   officer program. The purpose of the veterans service officer program
21   is to provide funding to underserved eligible counties to establish
22   and maintain a veterans service officer within the county. "Eligible
23   counties," for the purposes of this section, means counties ((with a
24   population of one hundred thousand or less)) where the percentage of
25   the veteran population receiving federal disability or pension
26   compensation is below the national average.
27       (2) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated in the
28   veterans service officer fund under RCW 43.60A.235 for the specific
29   purposes provided in this section, the department must:
30       (a) Establish a process to educate local governments, veterans,
31   and those still serving in the national guard or armed forces reserve
32   of the veterans service officer program;
33       (b) Develop partnerships with local governments to assist in
34   establishing and maintaining local veterans service officers in
35   eligible counties who elect to have a veterans service officer; and
36       (c) Provide funding to support eligible counties in establishing
37   and maintaining local accredited veterans service officers. ((Funding
38   is provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Funding may only be
39   provided to support the equivalent of one full-time veterans service
                                        p. 3                       HB 1102
 1   officer per eligible county.)) The department shall prioritize
 2   additional funding to eligible counties with the lowest percentage of
 3   the veteran population receiving federal disability or pension
 4   compensation, and then to eligible counties without a veterans
 5   service officer.
 6       (3) The application process for the veterans service officer
 7   program must be prescribed as to manner and form by the department.
 8       (4) The department may adopt rules necessary to implement this
 9   section. The department shall include a requirement that any county
10   that participates in the veterans service officer program must allow
11   any veteran residing in an adjacent county access to the county's
12   veterans service officer.
13       (5) For purposes of this section, "veterans service officer"
14   means an accredited veterans service officer funded by the veterans
15   service officer fund created in RCW 43.60A.235.


16       Sec. 4.   RCW 43.60A.235 and 2019 c 223 s 2 are each amended to
17   read as follows:
18       (1) There is created in the custody of the state treasurer an
19   account to be known as the veterans service officer fund. Revenues to
20   the fund consist of appropriations by the legislature, private
21   contributions, and all other sources deposited in the fund.
22       (2) Expenditures from the fund may only be used for the purposes
23   of the veterans service officer program under RCW 43.60A.230 and
24   section 2 of this act, including administrative expenses. Only the
25   director, or the director's designee, may authorize expenditures. The
26   account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW,
27   but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

                                  --- END ---




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