[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2884 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2884
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a standard
letter format to be provided to individuals who are indebted to the
United States by virtue of their participation in benefits programs
administered by the Secretary, to provide notice of debt by electronic
means to such individuals when so elected, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 17, 2018
Mrs. Fischer (for herself, Mr. Tester, Mr. Brown, Mr. Cornyn, Mr.
Heller, and Mr. Rubio) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a standard
letter format to be provided to individuals who are indebted to the
United States by virtue of their participation in benefits programs
administered by the Secretary, to provide notice of debt by electronic
means to such individuals when so elected, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Fair Debt Notice Act of
2018''.
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS NOTICE RELATING TO DEBT
COLLECTION ACTIVITIES.
(a) Debt Notification Letter Formats.--The Secretary of Veterans
Affairs shall collaborate with veterans service organizations to
develop a standard format for any letter provided to individuals who
the Secretary determines are indebted to the United States by virtue of
such person's participation in a benefits program administered by the
Secretary. Such letter shall be written in plain language and shall
include a notice of the debt and a clear explanation of--
(1) why the individual is indebted to the United States by
virtue of such person's participation in a benefits program
administered by the Secretary; and
(2) the options available to the individual.
(b) Delivery of Debt Notices by Standard Mail and Electronic
Means.--The Secretary shall develop a method by which individuals may
elect to receive notice of debt by electronic means and shall ensure,
to the extent practicable, that the letter developed under subsection
(a) is delivered--
(1) by both standard mail and by electronic means to
intended recipients who have made such an election; and
(2) only by standard mail to intended recipients who have
not made such an election.
(c) Notice to Congress.--
(1) Notices of completion.--Upon completion of the
development of the standard letter format required under
subsection (a) and upon completion of development of the method
under subsection (b), the Secretary shall submit to Congress
notice of the completion of the development.
(2) Progress reports.--If the Secretary has not submitted
each notice required by paragraph (1) by the date that is 90
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
shall--
(A) submit to Congress a report describing the
progress of the Secretary toward implementing
subsections (a) and (b) and an explanation for why the
respective development has not been completed; and
(B) every 30 days thereafter until all of the
notices required by paragraph (1) have been submitted,
submit to Congress an update to the report under
subparagraph (A) that includes an additional
explanation for the failure to complete the respective
development.
(d) Study and Report.--
(1) Study.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in
coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall conduct
a study on the process by which individuals who are indebted to
the United States by virtue of their participation in a
benefits program administered by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs are notified of debt collection efforts relating to
such indebtedness.
(2) Elements.--The study required by paragraph (1) shall
include the following:
(A) An analysis of the scope of the problem of
individuals who are indebted to the United States by
virtue of their participation in a benefits program
administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs not
receiving debt collection notices relating to such
indebtedness.
(B) Identification of administrative actions the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of the
Treasury can carry out to reduce the number of
incorrect or unknown addresses of such individuals in
the databases of the Department Veterans Affairs and
the Department of the Treasury and a timeline for
carrying out such actions.
(C) An estimate of the costs associated with
sending debt collection notices to such individuals by
certified mail.
(D) An analysis of whether, or to what extent,
sending debt collection notices to such individuals by
certified mail would address the problem analyzed under
subparagraph (A).
(E) An analysis of the requirements and resources
that would be necessary to develop the capability for
creating a single consolidated snapshot of a veteran's
debt.
(F) An analysis of the extent to which individuals
indebted to the United States by virtue of their
participation in a benefits program administered by the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs are so indebted as a
result of an error, misrepresentation, or fraud by such
individuals.
(3) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in
coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall submit
to Congress a report on the findings of the Secretaries with
respect to the study conducted under paragraph (1).
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