SAVE Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6769 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide food to veterans under the grant and per diem grant programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs during certain public health emergencies. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 8, 2020 Mr. TED LIEU of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide food to veterans under the grant and per diem grant pro- grams of the Department of Veterans Affairs during certain public health emergencies. 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 ‘‘Supporting At-risk 4 Veterans in an Emergency Act’’ or the ‘‘SAVE Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. GENERAL SUPPORT. 6 (a) USE OF FUNDS.—During a covered public health 7 emergency, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may use 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6769.IH H6769 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6769 IH amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to the 1 Department of Veterans Affairs to carry out sections 2 2011, 2012, and 2061 of title 38, United States Code, 3 to provide food to homeless veterans. 4 (b) USE OF PER DIEM PAYMENTS.—During a cov- 5 ered public health emergency, a recipient of a grant or 6 an eligible entity under the grant and per diem program 7 of the Department (in this subsection referred to as the 8 ‘‘program’’) may use per diem payments under sections 9 2012 and 2061 of title 38, United States Code, to provide 10 food and basic supplies for— 11 (1) homeless veterans in the program; and 12 (2) formerly homeless veterans in the commu- 13 nity who experienced homelessness during the one- 14 year period ending on the date of the enactment of 15 this Act. 16 (c) COVERED PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY DE- 17 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered public health 18 emergency’’ means— 19 (1) a public health emergency under the Robert 20 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist- 21 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); or 22 (2) an emergency with respect to COVID–19 23 declared by a Federal, State, or local authority. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6769.IH H6769 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS