Get Justice-Involved Veterans BACK HOME Act

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Bill ID: 119/hr/8044
Last Updated: July 29, 2026

Sponsored by

Rep. Conaway, Herbert C. [D-NJ-3]

ID: C001136

Follow the money

The bill

Get Justice-Involved Veterans BACK HOME Act

HR. 8044, 119th Congress — read as touching Private Prisons & Immigration Detention.

The sponsor

Rep. Conaway, Herbert C. [D-NJ-3]

Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.

The money

$67,250 raised

22 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.

The alignment

85% match to Project 2025

This bill's text tracks the "Department of Transportation" section, p. 673-675 of the Mandate for Leadership.

Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law

Track this bill's progress through the legislative process

Latest Action

Committee Hearings Held

May 19, 2026

Introduced

Committee Review

📍 Current Status

Next: The bill moves to the floor for full chamber debate and voting.

🗳️

Floor Action

✅

Passed House

🏛️

Senate Review

🎉

Passed Congress

🖊️

Presidential Action

⚖️

Became Law

📚 How does a bill become a law?

1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.

2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.

3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.

4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.

5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.

6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.

7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!

Bill Summary

Another masterpiece of legislative theater, designed to make the ignorant masses feel good while doing absolutely nothing to address the real problems. The "Get Justice-Involved Veterans BACK HOME Act" - what a delightful euphemism for "Let's Throw Some Money at a Problem and Pretend We Care."

**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The main purpose of this bill is to provide mental health services to incarcerated veterans, because apparently, we've just discovered that locking people up and throwing away the key doesn't actually solve any problems. The objectives are to create a pilot program for telemental health services, establish separate housing units for veterans in federal correctional institutions, and automatically resume payment of compensation and dependency benefits after incarceration ends.

**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill establishes a pilot program for mental health care, which will be carried out by the Department of Veterans Affairs. It also requires the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to establish dedicated wards or housing units for incarcerated veterans in federal correctional institutions. Additionally, it amends existing law to automatically resume payment of compensation and dependency benefits after incarceration ends.

**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The affected parties include incarcerated veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Bureau of Prisons, and local facilities that will provide training and resources for correctional staff. The stakeholders are the politicians who get to pat themselves on the back for "supporting our troops," the lobbyists who pushed for this bill, and the voters who will be duped into thinking that something meaningful is being done.

**Potential Impact & Implications:** The potential impact of this bill is minimal, as it only provides a Band-Aid solution to a much deeper problem. The implications are that we'll continue to waste money on ineffective programs, while ignoring the root causes of veteran incarceration, such as poverty, lack of education, and inadequate mental health services.

In conclusion, this bill is a perfect example of legislative malpractice - it's a superficial fix for a complex problem, designed to make politicians look good rather than actually helping people. It's a disease masquerading as a cure, and we're all just guinea pigs in their game of political theater.

Related Topics

Military & Veterans Affairs
Generated using Llama 3.1 70B (Dr. Haus personality)

💰 Campaign Finance Network

Rep. Conaway, Herbert C. [D-NJ-3]

Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle

Total Contributions
$67,250
22 donors
PACs
$0
Organizations
$1,250
Committees
$0
Individuals
$66,000

No PAC contributions found

1
THE PLATT LAW GROUP P.C.
1 transaction
$1,000
2
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP DEMOCRATIC CLUB
1 transaction
$250

No committee contributions found

1
GALLETTI, SCOTT
1 transaction
$3,300
2
LEITNER, ROBYN
1 transaction
$3,300
3
ESTIN, DAVID
1 transaction
$3,300
4
SHEIKH, WASIF
1 transaction
$3,300
5
COBB, WILLIAM S
1 transaction
$3,300
6
CHAUDHRY, FARRUKH
1 transaction
$3,300
7
OLSON, TY J
1 transaction
$3,300
8
FALCONE, CARMEL A
1 transaction
$3,300
9
MEROLA, MICHAEL A
1 transaction
$3,300
10
OLSON, SUSAN
1 transaction
$3,300
11
APPLEBOOM, GEOFFREY C
1 transaction
$3,300
12
ZION, SARA
1 transaction
$3,300
13
MOISE, SAMANTA M
1 transaction
$3,300
14
DAMBROSIO, ANTHONY L
1 transaction
$3,300
15
SHAH, TUSHAR
1 transaction
$3,300
16
MOISE, GAETAN
1 transaction
$3,300
17
DAMBROSIO, SALLY J
1 transaction
$3,300
18
KAISER, MICHAEL
1 transaction
$3,300
19
COLEMAN, JOHN M.
1 transaction
$3,300
20
BASSANI, LUIGI
1 transaction
$3,300

Cosponsors & Their Campaign Finance

This bill has 2 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.

Rep. Luttrell, Morgan [R-TX-8]

ID: L000603

Top Contributors

24

1
ALABAMA-COUSHATTA TRIBE
OrganizationWOODVILLE, TX
$3,300
Dec 21, 2023
2
TIGUA INDIAN RES.-YSLETA DEL SUR PUEBLO
OrganizationEL PASO, TX
$3,300
Jun 20, 2023
3
ALABAMA-COUSHATTA TRIBE
OrganizationWOODVILLE, TX
$3,300
Sep 27, 2024
4
TIGUA INDIAN RES.-YSLETA DEL SUR PUEBLO
OrganizationEL PASO, TX
$2,500
Sep 20, 2024
5
GRIFFIN, KENNETH
CITADEL LLC • FOUNDER CEO
IndividualMIAMI BEACH, FL
$6,600
Apr 10, 2023
6
SINGER, PAUL
ELLIOTT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT • CO-CEO CO-CIO PRESIDENT
IndividualPALM BEACH, FL
$6,600
Apr 10, 2023
7
STEDMAN, STUART
STEDMAN WEST INTERESTS INC. • INVESTOR/PRESIDENT
IndividualHOUSTON, TX
$6,600
Jun 22, 2023
8
FISHER, KENNETH
FISHER INVESTMENTS • EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN
IndividualPLANO, TX
$6,600
May 23, 2024
9
FISHER, SHERRILYN
PLANO 6500 LLC • MEMBER
IndividualPLANO, TX
$6,600
May 23, 2024
10
ERICKSON, MARILYN
RETIRED • RETIRED
IndividualPOWELL, TN
$6,600
Jul 6, 2024

Rep. Stansbury, Melanie A. [D-NM-1]

ID: S001218

Top Contributors

70

1
PUYALLUP TRIBE OF INDIANS
OrganizationTACOMA, WA
$3,700
Jun 10, 2024
2
PUEBLO OF ISLETA
OrganizationISLETA, NM
$3,300
Nov 27, 2023
3
PUEBLO OF SANDIA
OrganizationBERNALILLO, NM
$3,300
Nov 27, 2023
4
PECHANGA BAND OF LUISENO INDIANS
OrganizationTEMECULA, CA
$3,300
Dec 6, 2023
5
PUEBLO OF SANTA ANA
OrganizationBERNALILLO, NM
$3,300
Dec 20, 2023
6
PUEBLO OF SANDIA
OrganizationBERNALILLO, NM
$3,300
Nov 27, 2023
7
PASCUA YAQUI TRIBE
OrganizationTUCSON, AZ
$3,300
Dec 30, 2023
8
AK-CHIN INDIAN COMMUNITY
OrganizationMARICOPA, AZ
$3,300
Mar 29, 2023
9
POARCH BAND OF CREEK INDIANS
OrganizationATMORE, AL
$3,300
Mar 29, 2023
10
FEDERATED INDIANS OF GRANTON RANCHERIA
OrganizationROHNERT PARK, CA
$3,300
Mar 25, 2024

Donor Network - Rep. Conaway, Herbert C. [D-NJ-3]

PACs
Organizations
Individuals
Politicians

Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.

Loading...

Showing 31 nodes and 34 connections

Total contributions: $34

Top Donors - Rep. Conaway, Herbert C. [D-NJ-3]

Showing top 22 donors by contribution amount

2 Orgs20 Individuals

Industry Impact

Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 2 helped, 1 harmed.

  • Section 3 amends title 18 to require the Bureau of Prisons to establish dedicated housing units for incarcerated veterans, which may reduce reliance on private prison contractors by increasing federal BOP capacity and programming for veterans, potentially harming private prison industry.

  • Section 2 establishes a pilot program for VA to provide mental health care to incarcerated veterans, potentially increasing demand for VA health services and possibly contracting with VA-affiliated health systems, benefiting hospitals/health systems that partner with VA.

  • +Telecommunicationsconfidence 0.60

    Section 2(d)(1) provides for telemental health services if facility has necessary infrastructure, which may require broadband or telecom capabilities, potentially benefiting telecom providers that supply such infrastructure to correctional facilities.

Who funds the sponsor on these industries

For each industry this bill affects, here's what the sponsor (Rep. Conaway, Herbert C. [D-NJ-3])received from donors associated with that industry during the 2022–present cycles. Donations are not proof of intent — they are a record of who funds the people writing the law.

Industries this bill HELPS

Project 2025 Policy Matches

This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.AI-enhanced analysis provides detailed alignment ratings.

Department of Transportation

Strong
Vector: 63%
Pages: 673-675AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill aligns strongly with Project 2025's emphasis on improving VA services for veterans, particularly through enhanced mental health care, benefits restoration, and veteran-centric reforms. Both prioritize addressing service-connected disabilities like PTSD and TBI, and seek to improve VA responsiveness to veterans' needs, especially within the justice-involved population."

Key themes:veteran-centric caremental health servicesdisability compensationVA reformjustice-involved veterans

— 641 — 20 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Brooks D. Tucker MISSION STATEMENT The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the primary provider of health care, benefits, and memorial affairs for America’s veterans and their families. The VA has the noble responsibility to render exceptional and timely support and services with respect, compassion, and competence. The veteran is at the forefront of every VA process and interaction. The VA must continually strive to be recognized as a “best in class,” “Veteran-centric”1 system with an organizational ethos inspired by and accountable to the needs and problems of veterans, not subservient to the parochial preferences of a bureaucracy. OVERVIEW At the end of the Obama Administration, the VA was held in low esteem both by the veterans it served and by the employees who served these former warriors. Eroding morale caused by the downstream effects of a health care access crisis in 2014 led to the resignation of Secretary Eric Shinseki and extensive oversight investigations by Congress from 2015–2016. By 2020, however, the VA had become one of the most respected U.S. agencies. This significant progress was due in part to the leadership of Secretary Robert Wilkie (2018–2021) and his team of political appointees and career senior executives, many of them veterans, who led the effort to ensure that the VA became “Veteran-centric” in its governance decisions and fostered a more positive work environment. This mindset translated into a department that was better attuned to employees’ and veterans’ needs and experiences in the daily operations of health care, benefits, — 642 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise and memorial affairs. During that period, the VA received the largest number of watershed congressional authorizations to reform its health care and benefits that it had received since the post–Vietnam War years along with historic increases in annual appropriations, which have tripled since the last full year of the George W. Bush Administration. The current VA leadership team of Biden appointees has adopted some of their predecessors’ governance processes. However, they have not sustained the previous Administration’s commitment to a genuine “Veteran-centric” philosophy, most nota- bly with respect to the delivery of health care, and harbor a bias toward expanding the unionized federal employee workforce that has not always been aligned with a focus on “Veteran-centric” care. There also is growing concern in Congress and the veteran community that the VA is poorly managing and in some cases disregarding provisions of the VA MISSION [Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Out- side Networks] Act of 20182 that codify broad access for veterans to non-VA health care providers. Efforts to expand disability benefits to large populations without adequate planning have caused an erosion of veterans’ trust in the VA enterprise. Additionally, the current VA leadership is focusing very publicly on “social equity and inclusion” within departmental policy discussions toward ends that will affect only a small minority of the veterans who use the VA. For the first time, the VA is allowing access to abortion services, a medical procedure unrelated to military service that the VA lacks the legal authority and clinical proficiency to perform. In addition to continuing the grotesque culture of violence against the child in the womb, these sociopolitical initiatives and ideological indoctrinations distract from the department’s core missions. DEPARTMENTAL HISTORY Following the Civil War, state veterans homes were established to provide med- ical and hospital treatment for all injuries and diseases. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, “Congress established a new system of Veterans benefits, including programs for disability compensation, insurance for service personnel and Veterans, and vocational rehabilitation for the disabled”3 that was overseen by three different federal programs: the Veterans Bureau, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Pensions, and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. In 1921, Congress combined those programs into the Veterans Bureau. Following World War II, a national VA hospital system, much of which remains operational today, was established to care for millions of returning veterans. Following the Vietnam War, the VA’s federally owned and operated hospital network expanded again to meet the needs of the volunteer and draftee population. In the past two decades, the VA has purposely transitioned to leasing medical prop- erties rather than building expensive new facilities that can take years to complete and often experience budget overruns. As the nature of health care has evolved

Department of Veterans Affairs

Moderate
Vector: 63%
Pages: 676-678AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"Both the bill and the Project 2025 excerpt aim to improve VA services and benefits for veterans, particularly around disability compensation and service delivery, but the bill’s focus on incarcerated veterans’ mental health is not directly addressed in the excerpt."

Key themes:veterans disability compensationVA service delivery improvementbenefits restorationhealth care access

— 643 — Department of Veterans Affairs with a growth in same-day surgical procedures and outpatient care, so has the VA, and in 2018 Congress added access to private-sector urgent care outlets as one of the VA’s health care benefits. Today, the VA operates 172 inpatient VA Medical Centers (VAMCs), which are an average of 60 years old, and 1,113 Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs), which are newer facilities designed to meet the needs of veterans closer to home. The VA also manages a Community Care Network (CCN) through contracts with Optum and TriWest, third-party health care administrators responsible for build- ing and maintaining a robust population of community providers to meet the needs of veterans referred for care outside of the VA system. Currently, approximately 6.4 million veterans out of 18 million nationally (and out of the 9.1 million who are enrolled) use the VA for health care; the remainder use employer-sponsored plans, Tricare, Medicare, and Medicaid. The disability benefits system evolved significantly in the years between the Cold War era and the global war on terrorism, a period when the VA enrolled large numbers of veterans from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam who were seeking disability benefits and health care. Disability compensation is the largest VA benefit, but there also are dozens of others, the next largest of which are the GI Bill and the Home Loan Guaranty. These benefits are administered through 56 Regional Benefits Offices (RBOs) and hundreds of satellite sites around the country. The Agent Orange Act of 19914 significantly expanded the scope of disability ben- efits for those who had deployed to Vietnam, and the cost of those benefits began to increase dramatically as the Vietnam generation of veterans aged and began to expe- rience adverse health conditions, some of which were presumed to have been caused by defoliant chemicals used in Southeast Asia. In 2016 and 2017, a burdensome backlog of appeals of denied disability claims from multiple wartime generations—a backlog numbering in the hundreds of thousands—led to a joint effort by the VA, Vet- eran Service Organizations (VSOs), and Congress to pass legislation that streamlined appeal processes. Implemented in 2017, this historic “good governance” success has helped the VA to reduce the number of these appeals dramatically. The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 20225 addressed adverse health outcomes presumed to be the result of veterans’ exposure to airborne toxins during the global war on terrorism and further expanded disability benefits to the most recent gen- eration of veterans. These ambitious authorities, like the 1991 authorities, have the potential to overwhelm the VA’s ability to process new disability claims and adjudicate appeals. Currently, the VA is seeking to hire large numbers of personnel to process these claims while exploring the use of an automated process to accel- erate claims reviews and decisions. The ever-present lag in the hiring and training of new employees could result in major problems with the timely adjudication of benefits well into the next Administration in 2025.

Department of Veterans Affairs

Moderate
Vector: 63%
Pages: 676-678AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill aligns with Project 2025's focus on improving VA healthcare delivery and addressing veteran needs, particularly through enhanced mental health services and benefits administration, though it does not directly engage with the specific reforms outlined in the VA section such as rescinding clinical policies or managing demographic shifts."

Key themes:veteran healthcare accessmental health servicesdisability benefitsVA service deliveryjustice-involved veterans

— 643 — Department of Veterans Affairs with a growth in same-day surgical procedures and outpatient care, so has the VA, and in 2018 Congress added access to private-sector urgent care outlets as one of the VA’s health care benefits. Today, the VA operates 172 inpatient VA Medical Centers (VAMCs), which are an average of 60 years old, and 1,113 Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs), which are newer facilities designed to meet the needs of veterans closer to home. The VA also manages a Community Care Network (CCN) through contracts with Optum and TriWest, third-party health care administrators responsible for build- ing and maintaining a robust population of community providers to meet the needs of veterans referred for care outside of the VA system. Currently, approximately 6.4 million veterans out of 18 million nationally (and out of the 9.1 million who are enrolled) use the VA for health care; the remainder use employer-sponsored plans, Tricare, Medicare, and Medicaid. The disability benefits system evolved significantly in the years between the Cold War era and the global war on terrorism, a period when the VA enrolled large numbers of veterans from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam who were seeking disability benefits and health care. Disability compensation is the largest VA benefit, but there also are dozens of others, the next largest of which are the GI Bill and the Home Loan Guaranty. These benefits are administered through 56 Regional Benefits Offices (RBOs) and hundreds of satellite sites around the country. The Agent Orange Act of 19914 significantly expanded the scope of disability ben- efits for those who had deployed to Vietnam, and the cost of those benefits began to increase dramatically as the Vietnam generation of veterans aged and began to expe- rience adverse health conditions, some of which were presumed to have been caused by defoliant chemicals used in Southeast Asia. In 2016 and 2017, a burdensome backlog of appeals of denied disability claims from multiple wartime generations—a backlog numbering in the hundreds of thousands—led to a joint effort by the VA, Vet- eran Service Organizations (VSOs), and Congress to pass legislation that streamlined appeal processes. Implemented in 2017, this historic “good governance” success has helped the VA to reduce the number of these appeals dramatically. The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 20225 addressed adverse health outcomes presumed to be the result of veterans’ exposure to airborne toxins during the global war on terrorism and further expanded disability benefits to the most recent gen- eration of veterans. These ambitious authorities, like the 1991 authorities, have the potential to overwhelm the VA’s ability to process new disability claims and adjudicate appeals. Currently, the VA is seeking to hire large numbers of personnel to process these claims while exploring the use of an automated process to accel- erate claims reviews and decisions. The ever-present lag in the hiring and training of new employees could result in major problems with the timely adjudication of benefits well into the next Administration in 2025. — 644 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise In sum, the VA for the foreseeable future will experience significant fiscal, human capital, and infrastructure crosswinds and risks. Budgets are at historic highs, and with a workforce now above 400,000, the VA is contending with a lack of new veteran enrollees to offset the declining population of older veterans. Recruitment of medical and benefits personnel has become more challenging. Veterans are migrating from the northern states to the southern and western states for retirement and employment. Meanwhile, VA information technol- ogy (IT) is struggling to keep pace with the evolution of patient care and record keeping. Consequently, VA leaders in the next Administration must be wise and courageous political strategists, experienced managers to run day-to-day oper- ations more effectively, innovators to address the changing veteran landscape, and agile “fixers” to mitigate and repair systemic problems created or ignored by the present leadership team. VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (VHA) Needed Reforms l Rescind all departmental clinical policy directives that are contrary to principles of conservative governance starting with abortion services and gender reassignment surgery. Neither aligns with service-connected conditions that would warrant VA’s providing this type of clinical care, and both follow the Left’s pernicious trend of abusing the role of government to further its own agenda. l Focus on the effects of shifting veteran demographics. At least during the next decade, the VA will experience a significant generational shift in its overall patient population. Of the approximately 18 million veterans alive today, roughly 9.1 million are enrolled for VA health care, and 6.4 million of these enrollees use VA health care consistently. These 6.4 million veterans are split almost evenly between those who are over age 65 and those who are under age 65, but the share of VA’s health care dollars is spent predominantly in the over-65 cohort. That share increases significantly as veterans live longer and use the VHA system at a higher rate. VHA enrollments of new users are increasingly at risk of being exceeded by the deaths of current enrollees, primarily because significant numbers of the Vietnam generation are reaching their life expectancy. The generational transition from Vietnam-era veterans to post-9/11 veterans will take several years to complete. The ongoing demographic transition is a catalyst for needed assessments of how the VA can improve the delivery of care to a numerically declining and differently dispersed national population

Showing 3 of 5 policy matches

About These Correlations

Policy matches are calculated using a hybrid approach: initial candidates are found using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text, then an AI model (Llama 3.1 70B) provides detailed alignment ratings and analysis. Ratings range from 1 (minimal alignment) to 5 (very strong alignment). This analysis does not imply direct causation or intent.

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