Sponsors (50)
Introduced May 1, 2025 by John Bergman · Last progress May 1, 2025
The bill tightens oversight, raises standards, and reduces abusive fees—improving protection and likely the quality of representation for many veterans—at the cost of greater regulatory complexity, enforcement powers and penalties, and implementation/administrative burdens that could reduce the supply of paid assistance and create short‑term uncertainty and costs.
Veterans (and other claimants) will face fewer abusive or unauthorized fees and lower out-of-pocket costs because the bill prohibits certain fees (including for active-duty filings), bans upfront charges before agency decisions, caps payments and ties some increases to CPI, and makes charging unauthorized fees a criminal offense.
Veterans will get stronger oversight and transparency of representatives because the VA must maintain and publish quarterly lists of accredited representatives, require filing of fee agreements, permit OGC audits, allow reporting of non‑accredited preparers/fees, and GAO will review recognition processes to guide fixes.
Veterans should receive more reliable, higher‑quality representation as the bill raises and regularly reviews CLE requirements, requires clearer testing/knowledge standards, and mandates publication and on‑demand availability of test content.
Higher compliance, reporting, audit, and training requirements (plus testing/CLE) will raise costs and administrative burdens for representatives and the VA, which could reduce the supply of available accredited representatives and make it harder for some veterans to find help.
Criminal penalties, very large fines, multi‑year bans, and conditional/temporary recognition regimes risk over‑deterring legitimate helpers and could expose well‑meaning paid preparers to severe liability—reducing available assistance and potentially harming veterans' access to timely representation.
Building and maintaining the public lists/reporting systems, conducting GAO reviews, implementing new rulemakings, and administering audits and enforcement will consume VA/GAO resources and staff time, potentially diverting funds or attention from direct veteran services and creating costs for taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 14 sections of legislative text.
Makes broad changes to how the Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes, regulates, and polices agents and attorneys who prepare, present, or prosecute veterans benefits claims. It requires public posting of accredited representatives and the knowledge test, tightens fee rules and standardized fee agreements, creates new oversight, audit and reporting requirements, raises continuing legal education/testing obligations, authorizes limited applicant assessments to fund administration, and adds criminal and civil penalties for improper fee collection and other misconduct. The bill also preempts inconsistent State laws and delays a pension payment-related date by five months.