Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, introduced a bill Thursday that she said would give the West Los Angeles Veterans’ Administration Campus more funding opportunities to build housing for homeless veterans.
The bill, titled the West Los Angeles VA Campus Improvement Act, would allow the campus to use proceeds from property leasing to build additional housing. Under current Veterans Administration regulations, the VA can only use lease proceeds for campus beautification.
“For more than a decade, I’ve worked with my colleagues to make sure the West LA VA Campus lives up to its purpose of supporting veterans,” Feinstein said. “This commonsense bill builds on the campus’ efforts to expand supportive housing opportunities for homeless veterans.”
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Los Angeles, introduced similar legislation in the House.
“As a veteran, I’m happy to work with Senator Feinstein on this important piece of legislation that will ensure veterans in Southern California have access to funds that they’re entitled to,” Lieu said. “In recent years, we’ve made incredible strides towards improving the West LA VA’s operations in service to our nation’s heroes.”
In addition to collecting funds from property leasing, the bill would authorize the VA to use money collected from easements or other land-use agreements at the West Los Angeles campus for the development of veterans’ supportive housing and services on campus.
It would also increase the time period for enhanced-use leases on the campus from 75 years to 99 years, which would align with other leasing terms the VA has and help reduce the financing costs for new housing, Feinstein said.