Senate Veterans Panel to Review Claims-Fraud Strike Force, Transition Support and Benefits Database

The Texas Senate Select Committee on Veteran Affairs will gavel in at 9 a.m. Aug. 26 to take invited and public testimony on three interim charges: how well the state protects veterans from unaccredited benefits-claims operators, how Texas supports service members leaving the military, and how two 2025 laws are being carried out. The panel had been set to meet Aug. 25; that sitting was canceled and the hearing moved a day later under a revised notice. Public testimony follows invited witnesses and is capped at two minutes each, and anyone filing written testimony must bring 12 three-hole-punched copies. The Senate runs no online comment portal, so the hearing room is the only place to be heard.

Sen. Brent Hagenbuch, R–Denton, chairs the five-member select committee — four Republicans and one Democrat — which was appointed March 23, 2026, according to Texas Legislature Online. Sen. Bob Hall, R–Edgewood, is vice chair. Texas is home to one of the largest veteran populations in the country, and the committee’s charges reach the two agencies that touch it most directly: the Texas Veterans Commission and the county service offices that help veterans file claims with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The charge on Protecting the Integrity of Department of Veteran Affairs Claims is the one with the freshest record behind it. Members are directed to study the effectiveness of the state’s claims-assistance infrastructure and the impact of the State Strike Force, to assess vulnerabilities to deceptive claims-assistance practices, and to recommend ways to shield veterans from unaccredited or predatory actors. In January, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an agreed judgment securing more than $6.8 million in debt relief for disabled veterans from VA Claims Insider, which his office alleged marketed itself as free coaching while charging fees despite lacking VA accreditation. Accredited veterans service organizations and county service officers provide the same help at no cost.

The second charge, Strengthening the Military-to-Civilian Transition, asks members to review what is available to Texans leaving service — including the federal Transition Assistance Program — and where the state can add value through the Military Veteran Peer Network. The network places TVC-certified peer service coordinators and volunteers inside local mental health authorities across Texas, offering peer-to-peer support, suicide prevention and military cultural competency training, and referrals to local resources. The charge asks for recommendations on moving veterans into civilian careers, which puts employment and credentialing squarely in front of the panel.

The Monitoring charge covers two bills from the 89th Legislature. Senate Bill 1814 directs the Texas Veterans Commission to build and maintain a secure electronic database of service members within 12 months of discharge who consent to be included, so that state agencies and county veterans service offices can reach them with information on benefits, employment, housing and health care. House Bill 114 moved veteran mental health programs — peer counseling, suicide prevention training, jail diversion and related work — from the Health and Human Services Commission to the Texas Veterans Commission. Lawmakers have already taken testimony on that transfer this summer, and the committee is directed to make recommendations on both laws.

Because this is an interim hearing, the committee will take no votes and no legislation is before it. What senators hear will shape the select committee’s interim report and the veterans bills filed for the 90th Legislature, which convenes in January 2027.

Meeting at a glance

Committee members

• Sen. Brent Hagenbuch, R–Denton (SD-30) — Chair
• Sen. Bob Hall, R–Edgewood (SD-2) — Vice Chair
• Sen. Pete Flores, R–Pleasanton (SD-24)
• Sen. José Menéndez, D–San Antonio (SD-26)
• Sen. Tan Parker, R–Flower Mound (SD-12)