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H.R. 2288 (115th): Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017

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About the bill

It takes six years on average for veterans to resolve an appeal for a disability claim with the VA. A new law aims to cut that. The Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act, signed into law last week, aims to cut that backlog.

Context

Any time a veteran files a claim for disability that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rejects, they have the right to appeal. But the average wait before a final decision is six years — and one service member has even waited 25 years. As a result, the number of pending appeals has increased sharply, rising in the past two years alone from 380,000 to now 470,000 pending appeals.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) currently spends about $63.7 billion per year on 4.1 …

Sponsor and status

Photo of sponsor Mike Bost

Mike Bost

Sponsor. Representative for Illinois's 12th congressional district. Republican.

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Last Updated: Oct 16, 2017
Length: 24 pages
Introduced
May 2, 2017
115th Congress (2017–2019)
Status

Enacted — Signed by the President on Aug 23, 2017

This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on August 23, 2017.

Law
Pub.L. 115-55
Cosponsors

26 Cosponsors (15 Republicans, 11 Democrats)

Source
Congress.gov

Position statements

What legislators are saying

“Bost Bill to Overhaul VA Appeals Signed Into Law”
    — Rep. Mike Bost [R-IL12] (Sponsor) on Aug 23, 2017

“Trump Signs Titus Effort to Reform the VA”
    — Rep. Dina Titus [D-NV1] (Co-sponsor) on Aug 23, 2017

“Cramer: house ensures va reform with passage of legislation”
    — Sen. Kevin Cramer [R-ND] on Nov 10, 2017

More statements at ProPublica Represent...

Incorporated legislation

This bill incorporates provisions from:

S. 1024: Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017

Ordered Reported on Jun 28, 2017. 100% incorporated. (compare text)

S. 712: Department of Veterans Affairs Appeals Modernization Act of 2017

Introduced on Mar 23, 2017. 88% incorporated. (compare text)

S. 152: VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2017

Introduced on Jan 17, 2017. 32% incorporated. (compare text)

H.R. 611: VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2017

Introduced on Jan 23, 2017. 32% incorporated. (compare text)

S. 933: Express Appeals Act of 2017

Introduced on Apr 25, 2017. 67% incorporated. (compare text)

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History

May 2, 2017
 
Introduced

Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber.

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May 17, 2017
 
Ordered Reported

A committee has voted to issue a report to the full chamber recommending that the bill be considered further. Only about 1 in 4 bills are reported out of committee.

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May 19, 2017
 
Reported by House Committee on Veterans' Affairs

A committee issued a report on the bill, which often provides helpful explanatory background on the issue addressed by the bill and the bill's intentions.

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May 23, 2017
 
Passed House (Senate next)

The bill was passed in a vote in the House. It goes to the Senate next.

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Aug 1, 2017
 
Passed Senate with Changes (back to House)

The Senate passed the bill with changes not in the House version and sent it back to the House to approve the changes. The vote was by Unanimous Consent so no record of individual votes was made.

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Aug 11, 2017
 
House Agreed to Changes

The bill was passed by both chambers in identical form. It goes to the President next who may sign or veto the bill. The vote was without objection so no record of individual votes was made.

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Aug 23, 2017
 
Enacted — Signed by the President

The President signed the bill and it became law.

H.R. 2288 (115th) was a bill in the United States Congress.

A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.

Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number H.R. 2288. This is the one from the 115th Congress.

This bill was introduced in the 115th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 3, 2019. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.

How to cite this information.

We recommend the following MLA-formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work:

“H.R. 2288 — 115th Congress: Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017.” www.GovTrack.us. 2017. September 25, 2023 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr2288>

Where is this information from?

GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.