HAVEN Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 679 To exempt from the calculation of monthly income certain benefits paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 6, 2019 Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. TESTER, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. JONES, Mr. TILLIS, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. ERNST, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. GRASSLEY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. MORAN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. COTTON, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. RUBIO, Mrs. SHA- HEEN, and Mr. ROUNDS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To exempt from the calculation of monthly income certain benefits paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring American 4 Veterans in Extreme Need Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘HAVEN 5 Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S679.IS S679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 679 IS SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF CURRENT MONTHLY INCOME. 1 Section 101(10A) of title 11, United States Code, is 2 amended by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the 3 following: 4 ‘‘(B)(i) includes any amount paid by any 5 entity other than the debtor (or in a joint case 6 the debtor and the debtor’s spouse), on a reg- 7 ular basis for the household expenses of the 8 debtor or the debtor’s dependents (and in a 9 joint case the debtor’s spouse if not otherwise 10 a dependent); and 11 ‘‘(ii) excludes— 12 ‘‘(I) benefits received under the Social 13 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.); 14 ‘‘(II) payments to victims of war 15 crimes or crimes against humanity on ac- 16 count of their status as victims of such 17 crimes; 18 ‘‘(III) payments to victims of inter- 19 national terrorism or domestic terrorism, 20 as those terms are defined in section 2331 21 of title 18, on account of their status as 22 victims of such terrorism; and 23 ‘‘(IV) any monthly compensation, pen- 24 sion, pay, annuity, or allowance paid under 25 title 10, 37, or 38 in connection with a dis- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S679.IS S679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 679 IS ability, combat-related injury or disability, 1 or death of a member of the uniformed 2 services, except that any retired pay ex- 3 cluded under this subclause shall include 4 retired pay paid under chapter 61 of title 5 10 only to the extent that such retired pay 6 exceeds the amount of retired pay to which 7 the debtor would otherwise be entitled if 8 retired under any provision of title 10 9 other than chapter 61 of that title.’’. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S679.IS S679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS