Posted: | January 30, 2019 04:10 PM |
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From: | Representative Neal P. Goodman |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Preserving the Value of Veterans' Benefits |
Through the years, service-connected disability payments, pensions, and other benefits have been provided to veterans by the Pennsylvania Legislature to thank and honor them for their service and sacrifice on behalf of our country. We provide these benefits because the brave men and women who served on our behalf have earned them. It has come to my attention, however, these benefits, though small, can sometimes disqualify veterans from the PACE and PACENET program because they put the veteran’s income just over the income eligibility limit. We must end this unintended consequence. My legislation would do this by removing the value of federal veterans’ disability payments and the value of all state service-connected payments from income eligibility calculations for the PACE and PACENET programs. State law currently requires these payments be counted as income. My proposal passed the House unanimously in the previous legislative session (HB 673) and is supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Aging. A similar measure to exempt veterans’ benefits from income eligibility calculations for the Property Tax/Rent Rebate program became law under Act 117 of 2016. Please join me in helping Pennsylvania veterans. |
Introduced as HB375