Heard on the Hill 


Teresa Morris, NOVA Director, Advocacy & Government Relations

Greetings NOVA Members –

Our advocacy efforts are paying off – the House VA Committee voted to move H.R. 5575, the VA Nurse and Physician Assistant RAISE Act out of Committee on February 2. 

The bill will increase pay for Title 38 RNs, APRNs, PAs, and Podiatrists working at VA. This is a priority for NOVA, and we have been advocating and working hard to get it passed.

The bill could potentially move to the House floor, as a standalone bill, but more than likely it will be added to a larger veteran package or omnibus bill.

I ask all of you to watch your email closely as we may be asking you again to contact your members when it hits the House and Senate floor.

In other news, NOVA released its 2022 Legislative Priority Goals. Key priorities include HR Modernization, staffing/ recruitment, retention of nursing professionals, and an on-time budget that supports modern staffing models for a highly-qualified nursing workforce. We  will be monitoring the Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission as this may  have long-term effects on staffing and how the VA provides healthcare in the future.

The link to the 2022 Legislative Priority Goals can be found on the NOVA website: -2022_nova_legislative_priori.pdf (ymaws.com)

The AIR Act was included as part of the MISSION Act (Section II of PL:115-182) and requires the VA to develop criteria to determine which  facilities will be modernized, expanded, realigned, reduced, and/or potentially closed. The final guidelines/report has been delayed due to COVID. The report will include a list of recommendations of all VA facilities based on market assessments considering the capacity of VA and non-VA providers to meet the demand of enrolled veterans for health care. A nine-member panel (Commission) will have a year to review that plan, conduct  hearings, investigations, make  proposals and send them to the White House - this should be finished by 2023.

I encourage all of you to remain engaged with your members of congress about our legislative priorities, H.R. 5575,  the need for more staffing, stronger HR, and critical incentives to hire healthcare professionals within VA. Also  pay attention to what is reported with respect to the AIR Commission. These processes will be critical to strengthening VA healthcare and services to Veterans.

I look forward to continuing our advocacy this year and working with all of you to ensure that VA nurse voices are heard in Washington. What you do is and continues to be critical to the health and well-being of our Veterans.

Stay tuned!