H.R. 8340 would exclude some benefits paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs from applicants’ income when calculating eligibility for the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program (HUD-VASH). Those benefits are compensation for service-connected disabilities and pensions for veterans with low income who have disabilities not related to military service.

In August 2024, HUD published a notice that the agency would exclude compensation benefits when determining eligibility for HUD-VASH. On that basis, CBO estimates that implementing the provision to exclude compensation benefits would have no cost because the department is already doing that. In the absence of that notice, CBO estimates that excluding such income would cost about $5 million annually.

Using data about the number of veterans receiving pension benefits, CBO estimates that excluding those benefits under H.R. 8340 would have an insignificant cost; any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.