WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following Veterans Day, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, announced the End Veterans Homelessness Act to help address the veteran housing crisis in California and across the country. The legislation would expand veterans’ eligibility for housing vouchers through the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program while reducing casework bottlenecks that prevent veterans from securing housing.
On any given night in America, nearly 32,500 veterans — including over 9,300 Californians — experience homelessness. To address this crisis, Congress created the HUD-VASH program to distribute vouchers to veterans, prioritizing those with chronic mental illnesses or substance use disorders. As of July 2026, Congress has funded nearly 116,000 HUD-VASH vouchers, but about 20,900 of these vouchers are not being utilized in part due to strict statutory requirements.
The End Veterans Homelessness Act would help veterans access these unused vouchers by enhancing the efficiency of the HUD-VASH program, broadening program eligibility, increasing oversight, and reducing bureaucratic red tape.
“Our veterans have made immense sacrifices to defend our nation, and we owe them our unwavering support, including a stable roof over their heads,” said Senator Padilla. “Too many federally funded HUD-VASH vouchers are going unused every year due to red tape and outdated eligibility requirements. The End Veterans Homelessness Act takes a critical step toward expanding access to essential housing support for veterans and honoring their immense service and sacrifice for our country.”
“No veteran should go without food or shelter,” said Senator Blumenthal. “Every year, thousands of HUD-VASH vouchers—one of our most successful tools to help end veterans homelessness—go unused. Our commonsense legislation will help ensure more housing vouchers get used and will put more veterans into stable housing.”
“Veterans who put their lives on the line to serve our country shouldn’t end up sleeping on the streets. This legislation will cut red tape in the VASH Program to ensure veterans have the assistance and support they need when struggling to find stable, affordable housing,” said Senator Warren.
Specifically, the End Veterans Homelessness Act would:
- Broaden HUD-VASH eligibility to include veterans and their families who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and veterans who do not require intensive supportive services (and are currently ineligible for the program), while preserving priority for chronically homeless veterans and veterans with chronic disabilities;
- Allow veterans currently receiving housing assistance through other programs to transfer into HUD-VASH, freeing up limited housing subsidies for non-veterans in need;
- Adopt effective Emergency Housing Voucher program flexibilities and allow public housing authorities to use administrative fees to streamline the process; and
- Increase transparency and oversight by directing HUD to provide Congress with an annual report on voucher utilization and barriers to access, and by requiring a Government Accountability Office review of HUD-VASH and veteran housing stability across federal programs.
California Representatives Mark Takano (D-Calif.-39), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.-43), and Mike Levin (D-Calif.-49) led companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
The bill is endorsed by organizations including National Alliance to End Homelessness, National Low Income Housing Coalition, American Legion, National Federation of Federal Employees, and National Coalition of Homeless Veterans.
“We thank Senator Padilla and Representative Takano for reintroducing the End Veterans Homelessness Act,” said Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. “Veteran homelessness shows what happens when the nation commits to permanent housing and the services people need to stay housed: it works. Our new preliminary 2026 point-in-time estimate shows continued progress among veterans. HUD-VASH is a big part of that success. This bill would strengthen and expand the program so more veterans can get housed, and it would bring us closer to the goal of ending veteran homelessness for good.”
“I want to thank Senator Padilla and Representative Takano for their leadership in introducing the End Veterans Homelessness Act, which would improve and expand the HUD-VASH program to allow more veterans experiencing homelessness to access permanent housing and wraparound services,” said NLIHC President and CEO Renee Willis. “The HUD-VASH program has been a critical tool for addressing and ending homelessness for hundreds of thousands of veterans. Expanding and building upon the success of the program will bring the nation closer to the goal of ending veteran homelessness and serve as a roadmap for how we can ensure everyone has a safe, affordable place to call home.”
“All veterans should be able to access the housing supports that are most appropriate for their needs and preferences,” said Kathryn Monet, Chief Executive Officer, National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. “This legislation is necessary to remove barriers to housing for veterans and to allow them to transition between programs when that is the right choice for them.”
Padilla has consistently fought to improve veterans’ access to housing and services. In July, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law, which included Padilla’s bipartisan Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act (HUDVA) to ensure that veterans experiencing homelessness and receiving VA disability benefits maintain access to crucial housing support. The HUDVA provision would permanently exclude disability payments received by veterans from annual income for housing assistance eligibility purposes through the HUD-VASH Program. In 2024, Padilla passed a bipartisan amendment into law to increase and streamline veterans’ access to HUD-VASH housing vouchers through the FY24 appropriations package. Last year, Padilla and Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) urged VA Secretary Doug Collins to provide emergency housing and health care for veterans affected by the Los Angeles fires.
In May, Padilla announced more than $110 million in federal funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs to support updates at Veterans Home in Yountville – which serves the needs of nearly 1,000 veterans and their families.
Padilla believes everyone deserves access to affordable and safe housing and recognizes the need to drastically increase the affordable housing stock to address the homelessness crisis facing California and the country, including through his Housing for All Act. This legislation would invest in proven solutions to address affordable housing shortages and provide a historic level of federal funding for existing programs to reduce homelessness and for innovative, locally developed solutions to support vulnerable populations experiencing homelessness.
A one-pager on the bill is available here.
Full text of the bill is available here.