VA bans smoking at all veterans health facilities nationwide
S. 2171 — A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit smoking on the premises of any facility of the Veterans Health Administration, and for other purposes. · Filed by Richard Durbin (D-IL) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 25, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill prohibits smoking—including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and e-cigarettes—on the premises of any Veterans Health Administration facility. The ban applies to veterans, patients, employees, contractors, and visitors. It amends federal law to replace an existing smoking provision and repeals a related 1992 statute.
Why we flagged it
The bill is a straightforward health and safety regulation for federal medical facilities. It restricts a harmful behavior (smoking) in a controlled environment (VHA premises) to protect vulnerable populations (patients, veterans, healthcare workers) from secondhand smoke exposure.
What the text implies
- Enforcement mechanism and penalties for violations are not specified in the bill text; implementation details will depend on VHA administrative rules and existing disciplinary authority under 38 U.S.C.
- The definition of 'facility' excludes GSA-controlled buildings, which may create ambiguity at shared or co-located federal sites where VHA and GSA jurisdiction overlap.
- Repeal of Section 526 of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992 removes a prior statutory smoking provision; the exact scope of that prior rule is not restated here, so the net change depends on what Section 526 previously permitted or required.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Veterans and other facility users gain a healthier environment free from secondhand smoke exposure, which reduces respiratory and cardiovascular harm. Healthcare workers and patients benefit from improved air quality and reduced disease transmission risk in medical settings.
Named in the bill
Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, General Services Administration, 38 U.S.C. § 1715, Public Law 102–585
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Jun 25, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jun 25, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. (text: CR S3534)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 4 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $190,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 28 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Richard Durbin, the sponsor, reported $-29,800 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- American Lung Association — $190,000 on 2 filings
- Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights — $0 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 21, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,573 characters) on Jun 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 21, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“VA bans smoking at all veterans health facilities nationwide” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s2171 Report an error
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