A Look at Tim Walz’s Veterans Policy History

Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s Congressional track record includes serving as ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs where he saw key policies around veterans issues including suicide prevention and electronic health record modernization.

A 24-year Army National Guard veteran himself, Walz drew on this experience to inform policy efforts and work directly with veterans.

“One of the things that endeared him to the veteran community then and will continue to do in the future is his desire to confer with them on the stuff that’s important to them, and then draft legislation and policies that effect change in the way that they want it done,” former VA House Committee Majority Staff Director Raymond Kelley told GovCIO Media & Research. “If the veterans organizations say, ‘Here’s what we want,’ then that’s what he was going to work toward.”

Walz on EHR Modernization

During his 2017-2019 term on the VA committee, Walz sponsored early efforts to establish the agency’s electronic health record modernization effort. The Veterans’ Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) Oversight Act of 2017 had passed the House, but did not pass the Senate after being introduced in the chamber.

These early efforts eventually led to what is now known as the Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office at the Department of Veterans Affairs. That office is working alongside the Federal Electronic Health Modernization Office (FEHRM) for the Defense Health Agency’s concurrent rollout of a unified EHR at military health sites.

The PACT Act

Many of the bills Walz sponsored during his overall Congressional career since 2006, including the Agent Orange Extension Act of 2015, Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act of 2015, Veterans’ Toxic Wounds Research Act of 2014, led to what became the PACT Act.

The legislation launched a widespread effort to enroll record numbers of veterans in VA benefits and provide them with health care.

The PACT Act also has spurred a massive overhaul of the agency’s digital infrastructure to accommodate the millions of new claims that have been filed, employees that have been hired and metrics to track on delivered benefits since 2022.

“The PACT Act changed the way VA analyzes information. It is now asking them to be proactive instead of reactive to information like research,” said Kelley.

Veteran Suicide Prevention

Walz has been a prominent leader on issues related to veteran suicide. Justin Brown, CEO of Washington, D.C.-based veterans organized HillVets, noted Walz’s sponsorship of bills such as the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act.

Such legislation has led to increased resources for technology programs like telehealth and additional mental health support.

“In general for VA health care, I think he’ll be a continued advocate to make sure that veterans across the nation are receiving high-quality medical care and that those facilities are appropriated and budgeted for,” Brown told GovCIO Media & Research.