Home > 105th Congressional Bills > S. 1186 (rs) To provide for education and training, and for other purposes. ...S. 1186 (rs) To provide for education and training, and for other purposes. ...
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1186
To provide for a reduction in the backlog of claims for benefits
pending with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 4, 2003
Mr. Edwards introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for a reduction in the backlog of claims for benefits
pending with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Veterans Affairs
Claims Backlog Reduction Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) There are more than 25,000,000 honorably discharged
veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States.
(2) There are more than 500,000 veterans who have claims
pending with the Department of Veterans Affairs for veterans'
benefits, and approximately 100,000 of such claims are more
than one year old without resolution.
(3) The Nation's veterans are dying at a rate of more than
1,000 veterans a day.
(4) The National Association of County Veterans Service
Officers is an organization that includes approximately 2,400
full-time employees and whose members are present in 37 States.
(5) Members of the National Association of County Veterans
Service Officers stand ready to partner with the Department of
Veterans Affairs in order to eliminate the backlog of claims
for veterans' benefits.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) The term ``claimant'' means an individual applying for,
or submitting a claim for, any benefit under the laws
administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
(2) The term ``County Veterans Service Officer'' means any
person employed by or funded by any county, parish, borough, or
territory whose job it is to assist veterans and eligible
dependents in the application for, administration of, or
receipt of benefits under any Federal, State, or County
veterans benefit program.
(3) The term ``injury or illness claim'' means a claim for
benefits that is documented as being service-connected.
(4) The term ``presumptive claim'' means a claim for
benefits that is presumptively connected to a specific tour of
duty or to specific types of military assignment.
(5) The term ``statutory claims'' means those claims for
benefits defined in section 5101 of title 38, United States
Code.
(6) The term ``specific claims'' includes statutory claims,
presumptive claims, and injury or illness claims.
(7) The term ``ready to be rated'' means that there is
sufficient information to evaluate the claimed disability and
to assign a rating based on degree of disability.
(8) The term ``State'' has the meaning given that term in
section 101(20) of title 38, United States Code.
SEC. 4. REDUCTION OF BACKLOG OF VETERANS' CLAIMS.
(a) Referral of Claims to County Veterans Service Officers.--(1)
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall identify the backlog of
veterans' claims as of the date of the enactment of this Act and shall
categorize those claims into types of specific claims. As part of such
categorization, the Secretary shall identify the pending claims that
require development. The Secretary shall refer those claims requiring
development to a County Veterans Service Office for development.
(2) The Secretary shall choose a County Veterans Service Office for
development of a claim based upon the office's geographical proximity
to the claimant.
(3) A claim referred to a County Veterans Service Office for
development shall be accompanied by specification from the Secretary of
the information that is required to develop the claim and the
information that is needed to make the claim ready to rate.
(b) Filing of Claims With County Veterans Service Officers.--Claims
for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs may be submitted to County Veterans Service Officers. Receipt
of such a claim by a County Veterans Service Officer under this Act
shall be treated for all purposes as receipt of the claim by the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF CLAIMS.
(a) Development of Claims by County Veterans Service Officer.--When
a County Veterans Service Officer receives a claim referred under
section 4(a) or receives a claim under section 4(b), that officer shall
make personal contact with the claimant, explain the situation, and
develop the claim.
(b) Authority To Fully Develop Claim.--A County Veterans Service
Officer to whom a claim is referred under section 4(a) or who receives
a claim under section 4(b) shall have the authority to fully develop
the claim and to transmit the claim to the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs when the claim is ready to be rated.
(c) Procedure.--Once a claim referred to in subsection (b) has been
fully developed, the claim shall be transmitted back to the Secretary
with the information developed in accordance with the specification
under section 4(a)(3) and a statement from the County Veterans Service
Officer indicating that the claim is ready to rate.
(d) Fully Developed Claims.--For purposes of this section, a claim
shall be considered to be fully developed when the County Veterans
Service Officer has obtained all items that that officer determines are
necessary to substantiate the claim and all items that the Secretary
has specifically specified to be developed in connection with the
claim.
SEC. 6. INFORMATION SHARING.
Veterans' information contained in the Benefits Delivery Network
of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall be accessible to County
Veterans Service Offices in order to provide County Veterans Service
Offices with online access to client information contained in the
Department of Veterans Affairs database. Such information shall be used
by County Veterans Service Offices to develop veterans' claims under
this Act and for no other purpose.
SEC. 7. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.
(a) In General.--Funding for purposes of this Act shall be
allocated by grant to the States based on the population of veterans in
the respective States. Funds allocated to a State under this Act shall
be directed to County Veterans Service Offices within the State through
the State department of veterans affairs (or the equivalent).
(b) State Overhead.--A State department of veterans affairs may
retain from any such grant for any fiscal year an amount equal to the
expenses incurred by that State for administrative overhead in
administering grants for that year, except that the amount so retained
in any fiscal year may not exceed 3 percent of the amount of the grant
to that State for that fiscal year.
(c) Funds for Education and Training.--A portion of the funding
received by a State under this Act for any fiscal year, as determined
by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in agreement with County Veterans
Service Offices, shall be used for County Veterans Service Officers to
attend educational programs sponsored by or equivalent to the National
Association of County Veterans Service Officers annual continuing
education and accreditation training.
(d) Limitation on Federal Funding.--Federal funds under this Act
may not be used to provide more than 50 percent of the total costs of
County Veterans Service Offices and shall be used to expand existing
programs, not to supplant existing local government funding.
(e) Establishment of New CVSO Programs.--(1) In the case of a State
that as of the date of the enactment of this Act does not have a County
Veterans Service Officer program, Federal funding under this Act may be
used by units of local government in such State to establish such a
program to assist veterans and their dependents in filing applications
for veterans benefits and for the purposes specified in this Act.
(2) In a State covered by paragraph (1), if a unit of local
government chooses not to establish a County Veterans Service Officers
program as described in that paragraph, the services specified in this
Act for the State may be performed, at the election of the chief
executive officer of the State, through--
(A) the State department of veterans affairs (or the
equivalent); or
(B) another official or agency of the State designated by
the chief executive officer of the State for that purpose.
(3) In a State covered by paragraph (1), if both units of local
government and the State government elect not to use some or all of the
funds, the unused amount shall revert back to the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs and shall be reallocated to those State department of veterans
affairs (or the equivalent) in which County Veterans Service Officers
programs exist to further expand services to veterans in those States
in support of the veterans claims backlog reduction services under this
Act.
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