The VA is just days away from a large budget shortfall that would halt critical benefits payments for millions of veterans, caregivers, and survivors.

MOAA joined fellow veterans service organizations (VSOs) at a Sept. 11 press conference on Capitol Hill, imploring Congress to set aside partisan finger-pointing and pass legislation to close the funding gap for the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), which provides benefits assistance for programs that range from pensions to rehabilitation, education assistance to survivor benefits.

“Our veterans should never have to doubt the delivery of benefits that they earned through their service and their sacrifice,” MOAA President and CEO Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, USAF (Ret) said at the press event. “Fulfilling that obligation is absolutely the most sacred duty we have as a nation.”

[ACT TODAY: Urge Congress to Pass Legislation to Address the Impending VBA Funding Gap]

VA officials notified Congress in July the VBA would be $2.9 billion short in mandatory funding for pensions and benefits for the final month of the fiscal year. Without congressional action by Sept. 20, approximately 7 million veterans will not receive their benefits.  

A congressional staffer told MOAA a legislative solution led by Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.) to address the immediate shortfall is likely to see floor action in the House as early as this week. But the shortfall stands to be much larger when fiscal year 2025 begins Oct. 1.

The VA anticipates needing an additional $12 billion in FY 2025, a correction to earlier estimates that did not adequately address the influx of beneficiaries stemming from passage of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act. This landmark legislation, signed into law two years ago, has enabled millions more veterans exposed to harmful toxins while serving to get the benefits they need and earned.

[FROM 2022: President Signs Comprehensive Toxic Exposure Reform Legislation]

When VSOs fought for the PACT Act, leaders stressed to Congress the VA must have the necessary funds and staff to meet the need, said Jose Ramos, the Wounded Warrior Project’s vice president of government and community relations.

“Congress has an obligation to provide oversight, as we still need to understand how this [shortfall] happened,” Ramos said. “However, a long-term [continuing resolution], or frankly any CR, that does not address the challenge that VA is facing now, to fully fund the health care system, is unjust to veterans.”

Kelly expressed gratitude to Congress and the VA for approving and implementing the PACT Act, but noted this success means the VA needs more money … and veterans need their benefits paid out.

“Any interruption in the VA’s ability to pay veterans may have devastating consequences on this community and may erode trust and confidence in the institutions who have pledged to support and care for those who have served and given and sacrificed,” Kelly said.

[FROM MILITARY TIMES: Congress Moves to Fix VA Budget Gap, But Time Is Running Out]