Veterans Accessibility Advisory Committee Act of 2025

The bill creates a new Veterans Advisory Committee on Equal Access within the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs must set up this committee within 180 days after the bill becomes law. The committee will focus on how veterans, VA employees, and the public with disabilities can better access VA information, services, benefits, and facilities. The committee will have 15 voting members appointed by the Secretary. These include veterans with different types of disabilities, experts in accessibility and disability law, VA employees who work on accessibility, and representatives from national veterans service organizations that work with disabled veterans. Four high‑level federal officials will also serve as non‑voting (ex officio) members, including the VA Under Secretaries for Health, Benefits, and Memorial Affairs, and the chair of the federal Access Board. Members serve two‑year terms and can be reappointed. The committee must meet at least twice a year and may set up subcommittees as needed. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs chooses the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson and must fill vacancies within 180 days. The committee’s job is to regularly advise the Secretary on improving accessibility in several areas: VA information (including electronic and online information), services and benefits, VA buildings and property, and facilities of private providers and other non‑VA entities that deliver services under VA programs. It will also advise on how VA buys products and technology so that accessibility is considered when purchases are made. The committee will review how well VA follows key federal accessibility and disability laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Plain Writing Act, the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act, and the Architectural Barriers Act. It will assess access needs by looking at things like disability complaints and physical reviews of VA properties and facilities, and then recommend ways to improve communications, services, benefits, and facilities. At least every two years, the committee must send a report to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. These reports must identify access barriers, review how VA programs address them, and list priorities and recommendations for improving access, including updates on whether past recommendations were carried out. The reports may also suggest changes to laws or VA policies. No later than 180 days after getting each report, the Secretary must send it, along with any comments or recommendations from the Secretary, to certain committees in Congress and must post it on a publicly accessible VA website. Committee members do not receive pay for their work on the committee, but they can be reimbursed for travel expenses. The VA must provide staff, funding, and information as needed for the committee to do its work. The committee automatically ends 10 years after the Act is enacted, unless further law extends it.

This bill focuses on how veterans and other people with disabilities access VA services, benefits, and physical and digital spaces. It may affect not only veterans, but also family members, caregivers, and VA employees who need accessible buildings, websites, forms, and communication. By requiring regular review and reporting, the bill could lead to changes in how the VA designs clinics, offices, cemeteries, and online tools, and how it works with private health care providers in VA programs. The actual impact on daily life for veterans and others will depend on which barriers the committee identifies, the recommendations it makes, and how the VA chooses to act on those recommendations over the 10‑year period. The public reports to Congress and online publication mean that information about VA accessibility efforts and remaining problems will be more visible. This could help Congress and stakeholders track progress and identify areas where further changes or funding might be needed, though the bill itself does not specify particular fixes or dollar amounts.

• Establishes a "Veterans Advisory Committee on Equal Access" within the Department of Veterans Affairs, to be created within 180 days of enactment.
• Committee has 15 voting members: disabled veterans, accessibility experts, VA accessibility officials, and representatives of national veterans service organizations focused on disabilities.
• Adds four ex officio members: the VA Under Secretaries for Health, Benefits, and Memorial Affairs, and the chair of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board).
• Members serve two‑year terms and may be reappointed; vacancies must be filled within 180 days.
• Committee must meet at least twice per year and may form subcommittees.
• The Secretary of Veterans Affairs selects the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among the committee members.
• Committee advises on accessibility of VA information, services, benefits, and facilities, as well as non‑VA providers and service providers under VA programs, and VA purchasing of products and technology.
• Committee evaluates VA compliance with specified federal laws on disability and accessibility, including the ADA, Rehabilitation Act sections 504 and 508, Plain Writing Act, 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act, and Architectural Barriers Act.
• At least once every two years, the committee must issue a detailed report to the VA Secretary identifying access barriers and recommending improvements and priorities.
• Within 180 days of receiving each report, the VA Secretary must send it and any comments to specified congressional committees and publish it on a public VA website.
• Members are unpaid for committee duties but may receive travel expenses; federal employees on the committee do not receive extra pay.
• VA must provide necessary staff, funding, and information for the committee to perform its duties.
• The advisory committee sunsets 10 years after the Act is enacted.

• The committee’s scope explicitly includes facilities of non‑VA health care and benefits service providers that participate in VA programs, not just VA‑owned buildings.
• The bill adds responsibility to review compliance with a wide set of federal laws, including plain‑language and digital experience laws, not only traditional disability access laws.
• The Secretary, not the committee members, selects the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson, which may influence how the committee sets its agenda.
• Federal employee members cannot receive extra pay beyond travel, which treats them differently from some other federal advisory roles where special pay may be allowed.
• Reports must be made public online, which may encourage the VA to respond but could also make internal access problems more visible before they are resolved.