H.R. 4446 would modify the process the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) follows to amend individualized plans for veterans’ vocational rehabilitation. Under the bill, those plans could be amended only when changes in the barriers to a veteran’s employment make an existing plan infeasible and when a different plan will make it more likely that the veteran’s vocational goals can be met.
Under the Veteran Readiness and Employment program, VA collaborates with veterans to tailor their rehabilitation plans to achieve long-range goals. Veterans whose service-connected disabilities present barriers to employment are eligible for services that could include educational assistance, job training, skills counseling, and independent-living services. Those benefits are paid from mandatory appropriations and thus are reflected in the budget as direct spending. VA periodically reviews each plan and may amend it, in collaboration with the veteran, if the veteran’s long-range goals are no longer feasible or if, because of new circumstances or information, rehabilitation is more likely for a different goal.
CBO expects that the effects of the modified process would be minor and that amended individualized plans could cost more or less than previous plans. Thus, enacting H.R. 4446 would change direct spending by less than $500,000 over the 2025‑2035 period.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Paul B.A. Holland. The estimate was reviewed by Christina Hawley Anthony, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
