Ernest Peltz Accrued Veterans Benefits Act (H.R. 3123)
April 30, 2025
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Where This Stands
Currently in_committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →The Frame
This bill ensures that unpaid pension benefits awarded to a veteran before their death are distributed to their survivors or estate rather than remaining with the government, provided an application is filed within one year.
Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.
Veterans' spouses, children, and dependent parents
These individuals are prioritized as recipients of unpaid pension benefits awarded to a veteran prior to their death.
Department of Veterans Affairs
The agency is required to follow a new statutory order of priority when distributing unpaid pension benefits after a veteran's death.
Current stage: in_committee.
Floor Vote.
Summary
Key Facts
- The bill creates a new section (5121B) in title 38 of the U.S. Code regarding pension payments after a veteran's death.
- If a veteran is awarded a pension before death but the payment is issued after death, the funds must be paid to survivors in this order: spouse, children (equal shares), dependent parents (equal shares), or the veteran's estate.
- If no application for these benefits is filed within one year of the veteran's death, the funds are paid to the veteran's estate.
- The bill excludes payments to an estate if the estate would 'escheat' (revert to the state due to lack of heirs).
- The new rules apply to the deaths of veterans occurring on or after the date the bill is enacted into law.
- The bill includes technical amendments to existing sections 5121, 3329, and 3330 of title 38 to incorporate the new payment rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who gets the pension money if a veteran dies before receiving a payment they were already awarded?
Is there a deadline to claim these unpaid pension benefits?
Why It Matters
This bill ensures that unpaid pension benefits awarded to a veteran before their death are distributed to their survivors or estate rather than remaining with the government, provided an application is filed within one year.
News Coverage
Voting Record
Total
403
Yes
402
No
1
Present
0
Not Voting
0
Abstain
0
How they voted (403)
Michael Rulli
R · yes
Dan Newhouse
R · yes
Marc Veasey
D · yes
Rudy Yakym
R · yes
Roger Williams
R · yes
Ronny Jackson
R · yes
Robert Menendez
D · yes
Nathaniel Moran
R · yes
Mark DeSaulnier
D · yes
August Pfluger
R · yes
Clay Higgins
R · yes
Donald Beyer
D · yes
Suzanne Bonamici
D · yes
Herbert Conaway
D · yes
Jasmine Crockett
D · yes
Sylvia Garcia
D · yes
Josh Gottheimer
D · yes
George Whitesides
D · yes
Lauren Boebert
R · yes
Troy Balderson
R · yes
Beth Van Duyne
R · yes
Betty McCollum
D · yes
Adam Gray
D · yes
Summer Lee
D · yes
+ 379 more
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Standardization of Post-Death Pension Payments
The bill codifies a specific hierarchy for pension distribution, closing a potential gap in existing law regarding benefits awarded but not yet paid at the time of death.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.congress.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance40How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy5Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz10Current news / social attention level
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