As Introduced
135th General Assembly
Regular Session S. C. R. No. 8
2023-2024
Senator Schaffer
Cosponsors: Senators Hoagland, Wilkin, Romanchuk
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
To urge the President of the United States, the United 1
States Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and the United 2
States Congress to take prompt action to reduce the 3
processing time for veterans' disability benefit 4
claims. 5
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF OHIO (THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING):
WHEREAS, The service members of the United States armed 6
forces have bravely and selflessly served our country; and 7
WHEREAS, The United States Department of Veterans Affairs 8
disability benefits program provides monetary support to 9
veterans whose military service has caused or aggravated a 10
disabling medical condition; and 11
WHEREAS, According to the National Center for Veterans 12
Analysis and Statistics, the total number of veterans with a 13
service-connected disability has increased every year since 1991 14
and was 4,944,275 in 2019; and 15
WHEREAS, According to the U.S. Department of Veterans 16
Affairs, the Department took an average of 102.2 days to 17
complete disability-related claims in February 2023; and 18
S. C. R. No. 8 Page 2
As Introduced
WHEREAS, The U.S. Government Accountability Office made 19
several recommendations directed toward improving the U.S. 20
Department of Veterans Affairs' capacity to manage workload 21
risks, monitor and assess performance, and plan for further 22
development of information technology; and 23
WHEREAS, The "Veterans Appeals Improvement and 24
Modernization Act of 2017," 38 U.S.C. 7113, made changes to 25
improve the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' appeals process 26
and also required the U.S. Government Accountability Office to 27
assess the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' original plan to 28
improve the veterans benefits claim appeals process; and 29
WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has failed 30
to comply with the Veterans Appeals Improvement and 31
Modernization Act of 2017; now therefore be it 32
RESOLVED, That we, the members of the 135th General 33
Assembly of the State of Ohio, urge the President of the United 34
States, the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and the 35
Congress of the United States to take prompt action to reduce 36
the processing time for veterans' disability benefit claims; and 37
be it further 38
RESOLVED, That we urge the U.S. Department of Veterans 39
Affairs to adopt policies to ensure that, for each applicant, 40
the disability benefits program appeals process concludes not 41
later than three months following the date on which an applicant 42
receives an initial determination letter from the Department; 43
and be it further 44
RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit duly 45
authenticated copies of this resolution to the President of the 46
United States, the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 47
the President Pro Tempore and Secretary of the United States 48
Senate, the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of 49
S. C. R. No. 8 Page 3
As Introduced
Representatives, each member of the Ohio Congressional 50
delegation, and the news media of Ohio. 51