Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act of 2026

If passed: aid-and-attendance veterans gain approximately $10,000 annually in supplemental income (meaningful for those with severe disabilities requiring in-home or facility care); DIC recipients receive automatic annual increases beyond inflation, locking in higher baseline benefits; an estimated 400,000+ Guard and Reserve members gain VA housing loan access without down payments, potentially increasing homeownership rates in this demographic; refinancing volume may spike before September 2036 fee waiver expiration. Historical precedent: the 2010 Post-9/11 GI Bill expanded educational benefits for Guard and Reserve members, increasing their program utilization and educational attainment; VA housing loans have historically been among the most generous federal benefits with near-zero down payment requirements, expanding eligibility tends to increase utilization. The automatic DIC adjustment mechanism mirrors Social Security COLA indexing, which has proven durable—similar automatic adjustment provisions for federal benefits have continued indefinitely once enacted. The 14-day minimum service threshold is significantly lower than current VA eligibility requirements (typically 24 months for reserve components), likely expanding the borrower pool substantially.