This bill creates a Veterans Advisory Committee on Equal Access inside the Department of Veterans Affairs. Its goal is to help the VA make its information, services, and buildings easier to use for people with disabilities, including at community care locations, and to make sure the technology the VA buys is accessible . The VA must set up the committee within 180 days. Before starting, the VA has to shut down or combine an inactive advisory group, or recommend ending one created by law if it’s inactive .

The committee would have 15 voting members, including veterans with different disabilities, accessibility experts, two VA staff who oversee accessibility, and representatives from national veterans service organizations. It would meet at least twice a year, study where access is hardest for veterans, the public, and VA employees, and advise on fixes. It also helps ensure the VA follows disability access laws (like the ADA and Section 508), as well as plain-language and digital access rules. The committee must send a report within two years of its first meeting and then every two years; the VA must send it to Congress and post it online within 90 days. The committee ends after 10 years. Members who aren’t federal employees are not paid, but travel costs can be covered .

• Who is affected: veterans with disabilities; people who use VA services; VA employees; and community providers that serve veterans .
• What changes: a 15-member advisory panel inside VA gives ongoing advice on making information, services, buildings, and tech accessible; meets at least twice a year; reports every two years and the VA shares and posts the report; panel ends after 10 years; VA must close or combine an inactive advisory group first .
• When: the VA must set it up within 180 days after the law is enacted.