H.R. 8260 · 117th Congress

Faster Payments to Veterans' Survivors Act of 2022

Introduced on Jul 1, 2022 by Chris Pappas (D-NH-1). 43 cosponsors, 13 of them from another party. Became Public Law 117-313.

Stage
Became law
Public Law 117-313
Introduced
Jul 1, 2022
Cosponsors
43
13 from the other party
Policy area
Armed Forces and National Security
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. Passed both chambers
  5. Sent to the President
  6. Became law

Official title

To amend title 38, United States Code, to shorten the timeframe for designation of benefits under Department of Veterans Affairs life insurance programs, to improve the treatment of undisbursed life insurance benefits by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Computers and information technology
  • Congressional oversight
  • Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Government information and archives
  • Life, casualty, property insurance
  • Veterans' pensions and compensation

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Public Law, Dec 27, 2022). Public domain.

Faster Payments to Veterans' Survivors Act of 2022

This act modifies policies and procedures related to the payment of benefits under certain life insurance programs administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

If a primary beneficiary has not made a claim for payment within one year (currently two years) after the death of the insured under the National Service Life Insurance (NSLI) program or the United States Government Life Insurance (USGLI) program, the VA is authorized to make payment to another designated beneficiary as if the primary beneficiary had predeceased the insured. If no designated beneficiary makes a claim within two years (currently four years) after the death of the insured, the VA is authorized to make a payment to a person the VA deems to be equitably entitled to such benefit.

The act also modifies the beneficiary designation process under NSLI and USGLI. Specifically, if a person does not designate a beneficiary for insurance, or if the designated beneficiary predeceases the insured person, the VA must determine the beneficiary in a specified order of succession.

Additionally, the act requires the VA to improve its processes and procedures with respect to identifying, locating, and paying hard-to-find beneficiaries of life insurance policies, including by improving its website search tools.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Chris PappasD-NH-1Sponsor

Democrats · 30

Republicans · 13

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jul 1, 2022Introduced in House
  2. Jul 1, 2022Introduced in House
  3. Jul 1, 2022 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  4. Jul 14, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
  5. Jul 18, 2022 · HouseSubcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Discharged.
  6. Jul 19, 2022 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  7. Jul 19, 2022 · HouseOrdered to be Reported by Voice Vote.
  8. Sep 13, 2022Reported by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. H. Rept. 117-463.
  9. Sep 13, 2022 · HouseReported by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. H. Rept. 117-463.
  10. Sep 13, 2022 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 360.
  11. Sep 13, 2022 · HouseMr. Takano moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  12. Sep 13, 2022 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H7770-7772; text: CR H7770-7771)
  13. Sep 13, 2022 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 8260.
  14. Sep 13, 2022 · HouseAt the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
  15. Sep 14, 2022 · HousePursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 1339, proceedings on H.R. 8260 are considered vacated.
  16. Sep 14, 2022Passed/agreed to in House: Pursuant to section 11 of H. Res. 1339, and the motion offered by Mr. Hoyer, the following bills passed under suspension of the rules: H.R. 1468, as amended; H.R. 5865; H.R. 5916, as amended; H.R. 7735, as amended; H.R. 7846; H.R. 7939, as amended; H.R. 8260, as amended; and S. 4205.
  17. Sep 14, 2022 · HousePursuant to section 11 of H. Res. 1339, and the motion offered by Mr. Hoyer, the following bills passed under suspension of the rules: H.R. 1468, as amended; H.R. 5865; H.R. 5916, as amended; H.R. 7735, as amended; H.R. 7846; H.R. 7939, as amended; H.R. 8260, as amended; and S. 4205. (consideration: CR H7814-7822; text: CR H7820-7821)
  18. Sep 15, 2022 · SenateReceived in the Senate, read twice.
  19. Dec 19, 2022Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  20. Dec 19, 2022 · SenatePassed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S7302)
  21. Dec 20, 2022 · SenateMessage on Senate action sent to the House.
  22. Dec 23, 2022Presented to President.
  23. Dec 23, 2022 · HousePresented to President.
  24. Dec 27, 2022Signed by President.
  25. Dec 27, 2022Signed by President.
  26. Dec 27, 2022Became Public Law No: 117-313.
  27. Dec 27, 2022Became Public Law No: 117-313.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 5, 2026 · loaded Oct 5, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.