S. 1139, Helping Optimize Prevention and Engagement for the Brave Act of 2025

Bill Summary

S. 1139 would extend the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) through fiscal year 2030 and authorize appropriations for that purpose. The bill also would require VA to provide quarterly briefings on the grant program to relevant personnel at VA medical centers located within 100 miles of any grant recipient.

Estimated Federal Cost

The estimated budgetary effects of S. 1139 are shown in Table 1. The costs of the legislation fall within budget function 700 (veterans benefits and services).

Basis of Estimate

For this estimate, CBO assumes that S. 1139 will be enacted near the beginning of fiscal year 2026 and that outlays will follow historical spending patterns for affected programs.

Provisions that Affect Spending Subject to Appropriation and Direct Spending

The bill would reauthorize the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program through fiscal year 2030. The program, which makes grants to community organizations that provide suicide prevention services to at-risk veterans, had previously been authorized and received funding of $174 million for the 2021-2025 period. The bill would authorize the appropriation of $590 million for 2026 through 2030. CBO estimates that over the 2026-2035 period, implementing the bill would increase spending subject to appropriation by $478 million and direct spending by $112 million.

CBO expects that some of the costs of implementing the bill would be paid from the Toxic Exposures Fund (TEF) established by Public Law 117-168, the Honoring our PACT Act. The TEF is a mandatory appropriation that VA uses to pay for health care, disability claims processing, medical research, and IT modernization that benefit veterans who were exposed to environmental hazards.

Additional spending from the TEF would occur if legislation increases the costs of similar activities that benefit veterans with such exposure. CBO estimates that 19 percent of such additional funding would come from the TEF in 2026. That percentage is based on the amount of formerly discretionary appropriations that CBO projects will be provided through the mandatory appropriation as specified in the Honoring our PACT Act.^[1]

Spending Subject to Appropriation

The discussion above in “Provisions That Affect Spending Subject to Appropriation and Direct Spending” describes the authorization of appropriations for suicide prevention grants. That authorization would increase spending subject to appropriation by $478 million over the 2026‑2035 period.

The bill also would require VA to provide quarterly briefings on the grant program to relevant personnel at VA medical centers located within 100 miles of a grant recipient. Based on the costs of similar reporting requirements, CBO estimates that providing those briefings would cost less than $500,000 over the 2026-2030 period; any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

Pay-As-You-Go Considerations

The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. The net changes in outlays that are subject to those pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in Table 1.

Increase in Long-Term Net Direct Spending and Deficits

CBO estimates that enacting S. 1139 would not increase net direct spending or on‑budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2036.

Mandates

The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

Previous CBO Estimate

On May 16, 2025, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 1969, the No Wrong Door for Veterans Act, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on May 6, 2025. Both H.R. 1969 and S. 1139 would reauthorize the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program at the Department of Veterans Affairs. S. 1139 would extend the program for a longer period and authorize a greater amount of funding. H.R. 1969 would extend the reduction in certain pension payments, which would reduce direct spending. S. 1139 does not include such a provision; thus, the net costs of the latter bill are larger.

Estimate Prepared By

Federal Costs: Noah Callahan

Mandates: Brandon Lever

Estimate Reviewed By

David Newman
Chief, Defense, International Affairs, and Veterans’ Affairs Cost Estimates Unit

Kathleen FitzGerald 
Chief, Public and Private Mandates Unit

Christina Hawley Anthony
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis

Estimate Approved By