WASHINGTON – Sen. Joe Donnelly on Wednesday proposed steps to improve the mental health care available to service members and veterans.

The Indiana Democrat is pushing a package of bills to improve access to help and the quality of care.

Donnelly said he hopes to get support from the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs, as he did with legislation he authored last year that requires annual mental health screenings for service members.

"I think the same thing will happen here," he said of his new proposal.

Donnelly, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the bills he introduced would require the VA and Defense Department to work together to assess the needs of their mental health workforce and would give incentives for mental health care providers outside the agencies to improve their knowledge of mental health challenges unique to service members. The bills also would set up six pilot programs to test whether physician assistants can be trained to help meet the demand for mental health services.

The VA reported in 2013 that 60 percent of its medical centers had trouble recruiting and training mental health professionals, according to Donnelly.

"We're trying to address shortages," he said. "Here's a couple of ways that we can get moving right away."

The cost of the proposals has not been determined by the Congressional Budget Office. A hearing on the bill has not been scheduled.