U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, this week announced progress in her effort to support veterans living in RVs and mobile homes and rural veterans traveling long distances for medical appointments, she stated in a news release.
She heralded her amendments that were adopted unanimously this week and passed as part of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (VA) spending bill. The spending bill next goes to the House floor for consideration.
“Our veterans deserve the respect and flexibility to pursue housing that makes sense for them. Forcing a pigeonholed one size fits all mentality onto them when they’re trying to seek out health services or find a place to locate their RV or mobile home is a disservice,” Gluesenkamp Perez said in the release. “I’m pleased that my colleagues agree with the logic of offering our veterans more options, rather than fewer. And I hope that Secretary Collins agrees with me and moves quickly to implement regulations that provide choices to our men and women who have served.”
The two amendments are colloquially known as Home Loan Flexibility and Safe Parking.
On home loans, her amendment notes that housing preferences among veterans are changing and vets are increasingly likely to seek out non-traditional living arrangements — such as recreational vehicles (RVs) and manufactured or mobile homes.
The amendment directs the VA secretary to explore expanding the VA home loan to help veterans purchase land on which to park their mobile homes or RVs.
Following conversations with VA employees and veterans who have encountered barriers to care, the congresswoman offered an amendment to encourage VA to allow veterans to safely park in VA parking lots overnight, according to the release.
Many veterans delay procedures because they don’t have a medical companion to drive them home after appointments that require partial anesthesia, the release stated. This is an especially acute issue for rural veterans who live hours from their nearest VA facility.
There is currently one VA facility in California that allows overnight stays. The safe parking amendment encourages VA to expand options at other VA facilities.
