# H.R. 3123 (119th): Ernest Peltz Accrued Veterans Benefits Act

Ernest Peltz Accrued Veterans Benefits Act This bill establishes procedures for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to issue a pension that was due but unpaid at the time of a veteran’s death. Specifically, if the VA issues a decision awarding entitlement to a pension to a veteran prior to the veteran’s death but issues the payment after the veteran dies, the pension must be paid to the first available recipient on the following list: (1) the veteran’s living spouse; (2) the veteran’s living children; (3) the veteran’s living dependent parents; or (4) the estate of the veteran, unless the estate will escheat (i.e., transfer to the state). To be eligible for such pension payments, a claimant of accrued benefits must file an application within one year after the veteran's death. If no application for accrued benefits is filed within one year following the death of the veteran, the pension must be paid to the veteran’s estate unless the estate will escheat.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: accrued_benefits. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: administrative_procedure. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: appropriations. Category: corruption_stewardship. Lane tag: general equity.
Lane: pension_payment. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: veterans_benefits. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 50: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill is a benefits-administration measure. It helps ensure that a pension already awarded to a veteran reaches survivors or the estate, which is a modest good of fair dealing. Its operative content is procedural sequencing and filing deadlines, a prudential matter rather than a direct restraint of evil or a direct advance of moral harm.
Theological note: The measure bears on honoring obligations owed to veterans and their families, and on faithful, orderly stewardship of benefits that were already due. Scripture's concern for just dealing with those who served and for keeping debts owed is relevant. The bill's main content is administrative sequencing of payments, so its moral weight is modest and prudential.

## Recorded votes

Roll 50: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended. Yea 405 · Nay 1 · Other 26.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-3123-119/