Grassley Welcomes Highway, Veterans Provisions Passed Today

Press Release

The Senate today passed a long-term highway funding bill and a short-term highway funding bill. The short-term bill, already passed by the House of Representatives, funds programs for another three months. The House bill includes several veterans priorities that Sen. Chuck Grassley supports, including expanding eligibility for more veterans to access the choice program for their health care and excluding veterans and service members from the employer mandate under Obamacare (the Hire More Heroes Act). The Hire More Heroes Act of 2015 provides incentives for companies to hire more veterans by ensuring they don't count against the 50 employee threshold requiring employers to offer health insurance if the veteran already has medical coverage elsewhere. Grassley made the following comment on the bills passed today.

"When I meet with Iowans, transportation comes up a lot. Farmers, manufacturers and city leaders all want assurance that quality roads and bridges will be available to transport their goods and residents. Economic growth is tied in to transportation. The long-term bill continues in the right direction of providing certainty for state and local governments so they can make solid transportation decisions. That creates the environment for more jobs, enhanced safety, and the ability to expedite projects. Passing a short-term extension gives Congress the chance to continue the negotiations that we hope will get us to final approval of long-term funding. It was important to continue funding in the short term to avoid stopping work on critical projects during construction season.

"The veterans provisions are important to fix gaps in access to health care services. The bill makes several improvements in the choice card program, which helps veterans get the care they need when a veterans facility is unavailable. Congress enacted the choice program to make sure that veterans always have access to the care they deserve, but the Department of Veterans Affairs' implementation of the program has been less than enthusiastic. We've pushed for those improvements to make the choice card more usable as Congress intended, so we need to make sure they're enacted. Even when the VA fixes something administratively, getting the fix into statute is important. For example, the VA already relented on its misinterpretation of distance in the choice program, after pressure from me and other members of Congress, and this bill codifies the correct interpretation so there won't be a misunderstanding in the future. The bill also makes sure employers and veterans are spared some of the negative effects of the President's health care law. It encourages employers to hire veterans without running into the employer mandate."

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