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Ohio Senate urges federal action to speed veterans disability claims processing
Summary
The Ohio Senate adopted a resolution calling on the president, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Congress to reduce processing times for veterans disability benefit claims, citing multi-month averages and a backlog of roughly 202,000 claims; an amendment discouraging mass staff reductions at the VA was proposed and tabled.
The Ohio Senate on May 13 adopted Senate Resolution 22 urging the president, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Congress to take prompt action to reduce the processing time for veterans disability benefit claims.
The resolution, introduced by Senator Frank Schaffer, noted federal reporting that the average time to complete disability-related claims had been over 139 days in November 2024 and was about 131 days as of April 2025, and said the VA considered claim processing times above 125 days a backlog. Schaffer said, “It’s simply unacceptable to take over 4 months to process a veteran’s disability related claim.”
The measure frames the issue as an urgent administrative problem, citing a backlog figure of nearly 202,000 claims as of May 2025 and urging federal officials to improve timeliness and responsiveness for veterans’ claims. Schaffer told the Senate the resolution had the support of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of Ohio, and the American Legion, Department of Ohio, and that the Senate Armed Services, Veterans Affairs, and Public Safety Committee had unanimously supported the measure in committee.
Senator Jay Craig offered an amendment that would add language discouraging “any mass elimination of staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs, especially those staff that are themselves veterans.” Craig argued staffing stability was essential to reducing processing delays and cited the PACT Act as expanding benefits that increased demand on the VA.
Senator Robert Reineke moved to lay Craig’s amendment on the table. The motion to table carried 23 yeas and 9 nays, after a roll-call vote. The underlying resolution was then adopted unanimously on the floor with a recorded vote of 32 yeas and 0 nays.
The resolution is a formal expression of the Ohio Senate’s position and does not itself change federal law or VA procedures; it directs no state agency action. The Senate’s adoption sends a message to federal officials and frames processing times as a policy priority for Ohio lawmakers.
The Senate record shows the resolution was adopted and titled as a measure urging federal action to reduce veterans’ disability claims processing times; the amendment discouraging staff reductions was tabled and not incorporated into the adopted resolution.
