IIB 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2523 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 22, 2021 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to improve 

the COVID–19 Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance program, to make certain technical corrections to the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health 

Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, and for 

other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Training in High-de5 mand Roles to Improve Veteran Employment Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘THRIVE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO COVID–19 VETERAN RAPID RE8 TRAINING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8006 of the American 

10 Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117–2) is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) by striking paragraph (3) of subsection (c) 

13 and inserting the following new paragraph (3): 

14 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF HIGH-DEMAND OCCU15 PATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION.—In car17 rying out this section, the Secretary shall use 

18 the list of high-demand occupations prepared in 

19 conjunction with the Secretary of Labor. 

20 ‘‘(B) MODIFICATIONS.—The Secretary of 

21 Veterans Affairs may add and remove occupa22 tions from the list under subparagraph (A) as 

23 the Secretary determines appropriate.’’; 

24 (2) in subsection (d)(3)— 


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1 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

2 (A), by inserting ‘‘(other than such a program 

3 pursued solely through distance learning on a 

4 half-time basis or less)’’ after ‘‘a covered pro5 gram of education under the retraining assist6 ance program under this section’’; and 

7 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘less 

8 than a half-time basis’’ and inserting ‘‘a half9 time basis or less’’; 

10 (3) by redesignating subsections (f), (g), and 

11 (h) as subsections (k), (l), and (m), respectively; 

12 (4) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol13 lowing new subsections: 

14 ‘‘(f) EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of Vet15 erans Affairs, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, 

16 shall contact each veteran who pursues a covered program 

17 of education under this section— 

18 ‘‘(1) not later than 30 days after the date on 

19 which the veteran begins the program of education 

20 to notify the veteran of the availability of employ21 ment placement services upon completion of the pro22 gram; and 

23 ‘‘(2) not later than 14 days after the date on 

24 which the veteran completes, or terminates particiVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:02 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2523.RFS H2523

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1 pation in, such program to facilitate the provision of 

2 employment placement services to such veteran. 

3 ‘‘(g) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 

5 Affairs shall seek to enter into a memorandum of 

6 understanding with one or more qualified nonprofit 

7 organizations for the purpose of facilitating the em8 ployment of veterans who participate in the retrain9 ing assistance program under this section. 

10 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.— 

11 For purposes of this subsection, a qualified non12 profit organization is a nonprofit organization 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(A) is an association of businesses; and 

15 ‘‘(B) has at least two years of experience 

16 providing job placement services for veterans. 

17 ‘‘(h) FOLLOW UP OUTREACH.—The Secretary of Vet18 erans Affairs, in coordination with the Secretary of Labor, 

19 shall contact each veteran who completes a covered pro20 gram of education under the retraining assistance pro21 gram under this section 30, 60, 90, and 180 days after 

22 the veteran completes such program of education to ask 

23 the veteran about the experience of the veteran in the re24 training assistance program and the veteran’s employment 

25 status. 


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1 ‘‘(i) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—Not later than the date 

2 that is one year after the date of the enactment of this 

3 Act, and quarterly thereafter, the Secretary of Labor shall 

4 submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen5 ate and House of Representatives a report containing the 

6 following information about veterans who participate in 

7 the retraining assistance program under this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) The percentage of such veterans who 

9 found employment before the end of the second cal10 endar quarter after exiting the program. 

11 ‘‘(2) The percentage of such veterans who 

12 found employment before the end of the fourth cal13 endar quarter after exiting the program. 

14 ‘‘(3) The median earnings of all such veterans 

15 for the second quarter after exiting the program. 

16 ‘‘(4) The percentage of such veterans who at17 tain a recognized postsecondary credential during 

18 the 12-month period after exiting the program. 

19 ‘‘(j) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.—Not later 

20 than 180 days after the termination of the retraining as21 sistance program under subsection (l), the Comptroller 

22 General shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Af23 fairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report 

24 on the outcomes and effectiveness of the program.’’; 


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1 (5) in subsection (l), as so redesignated, by 

2 striking ‘‘No retraining assistance may be paid 

3 under this section after the date that is 21 months 

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act’’ and in5 serting ‘‘No retraining assistance may be paid under 

6 this section for a covered program of education that 

7 begins on or after December 11, 2022’’; 

8 (6) in subsection (m), as so redesignated, by 

9 striking the period at the end and inserting the fol10 lowing: ‘‘, which shall be carried out as if such sec11 tion were authorized for the payment of readjust12 ment and rehabilitation benefits to or on behalf of 

13 veterans under chapters 30, 31, and 41 of title 38, 

14 United States Code. Not more than $386,000,000 

15 may be obligated or expended to carry out this sec16 tion.’’; and 

17 (7) by adding at the end the following new sub18 section: 

19 ‘‘(n) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered public health emer21 gency’ means the declaration— 

22 ‘‘(A) of a public health emergency, based 

23 on an outbreak of COVID–19 by the Secretary 

24 of Health and Human Services under section 


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1 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 247d); or 

3 ‘‘(B) of a domestic emergency, based on an 

4 outbreak of COVID–19 by the President, the 

5 Secretary of Homeland Security, or State, or 

6 local authority. 

7 ‘‘(2) The term ‘veteran’ means— 

8 ‘‘(A) a person who served in the active 

9 military, naval, or air service, and who was dis10 charged or released therefrom under conditions 

11 other than dishonorable; or 

12 ‘‘(B) a member of a reserve component of 

13 the Armed Forces who performs active service 

14 for a period of 30 days or longer by reason of 

15 the covered public health emergency. 

16 ‘‘(3) The term ‘active service’ has the meaning 

17 given such term in section 101 of title 10, United 

18 States Code.’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 subsection (a) shall apply as if included in the enactment 

21 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 

22 117–2). 


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1 SEC. 3. INFORMATION PROVIDED BY DEPARTMENT OF VET2 ERANS AFFAIRS ABOUT POSTSECONDARY 

3 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 

4 (a) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED.— 

5 Subsection (c) of section 3698 of title 38, United States 

6 Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (1)(C)— 

8 (A) in clause (xi), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

9 end; 

10 (B) in clause (xii), by striking the period 

11 and inserting a semicolon; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

13 clauses: 

14 ‘‘(xiii) whether the institution is listed on 

15 the College Navigator website as affiliated with 

16 a religion and, if so, which religious denomina17 tion; 

18 ‘‘(xiv) whether the Secretary of Education 

19 or other head of a department or agency of the 

20 Federal Government has determined that the 

21 institution is a minority serving institution and, 

22 if so, which one or more types of minority serv23 ing institutions; and 

24 ‘‘(xv) whether the institution is gender spe25 cific.’’; and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 

2 following new sentence: ‘‘To the extent practicable, 

3 the Secretary shall ensure that such information is 

4 provided in a searchable format.’’. 

5 (b) DEFINITION.—Subsection (f) of such section is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following new para7 graphs: 

8 ‘‘(3) The term ‘College Navigator website’ has 

9 the meaning given that term in section 132 of the 

10 Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1015a). 

11 ‘‘(4) The term ‘minority serving institution’ 

12 means any of the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) A part B institution, as such term is 

14 defined in section 322(2) of the Higher Edu15 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)). 

16 ‘‘(B) A Hispanic-serving institution, as 

17 such term is defined in section 502(a)(5) of 

18 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1101a(5)). 

19 ‘‘(C) A Tribal College or University, as 

20 such term is defined in section 316(b)(3) of 

21 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)(3)). 

22 ‘‘(D) A predominantly Black institution, as 

23 such term is defined in section 318(b)(6) of 

24 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1059e(b)(6)). 


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1 ‘‘(E) A Native American-serving, nontribal 

2 institution, as such term is defined in section 

3 319(b)(2) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1059f(b)(6)). 

4 ‘‘(F) An Alaska Native-serving institution 

5 or Native Hawaiian-serving institution, as such 

6 terms are defined in section 317(b) of such Act 

7 (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)). 

8 ‘‘(G) An Asian American and Native 

9 American Pacific Islander-serving institution, as 

10 such term is defined in section 320(b) of such 

11 Act (20 U.S.C. 1059g(b)).’’. 

12 (c) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 

13 section shall apply with respect to the information pro14 vided under section 3698 of title 38, United States Code, 

15 beginning on the date that is two years after the date of 

16 the enactment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 4. DELAY OF EFFECTIVE DATE FOR LIMITATION ON 

18 COLOCATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF 

19 STATE APPROVING AGENCIES. 

20 Section 1024 of the Johnny Isakson and David P. 

21 Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improve22 ment Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–315) is amended to 

23 read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1024. LIMITATION ON COLOCATION AND ADMINIS2 TRATION OF STATE APPROVING AGENCIES. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3671 of title 38, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new subsection: 

6 ‘‘ ‘(c) The Secretary may not recognize a State de7 partment or agency as the State approving agency for a 

8 State for purposes of this chapter if such department or 

9 agency is administered at, or colocated with, a university 

10 or university system that offers courses or programs of 

11 education that are subject to approval under this chapter 

12 by the State approving agency for that State.’. 

13 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

14 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is one 

15 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICABILITY OF TREATMENT 

17 OF CERTAIN FOR-PROFIT EDUCATIONAL IN18 STITUTIONS. 

19 (a) CLARIFICATION.—Section 1022(c) of the Johnny 

20 Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care 

21 and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 (Public Law 116– 

22 315) is amended by inserting ‘‘, or the conversion of a 

23 for-profit educational institution to a public educational 

24 institution,’’ after ‘‘nonprofit educational institution’’. 

25 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

26 subsection (a) shall apply as if included in the enactment 


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1 of the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans 

2 Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 (Pub3 lic Law 116–315). 

4 SEC. 6. CLARIFICATIONS REGARDING REQUIREMENTS FOR 

5 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS PARTICI6 PATING IN THE EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 

7 PROGRAMS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET8 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

9 Subsection (f) of section 3679 of title 38, United 

10 States Code, as added by section 1018 of the Johnny Isak11 son and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and 

12 Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–315), 

13 is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (1)(E), by inserting ‘‘, to the 

15 maximum extent practicable,’’ after ‘‘including’’; 

16 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

18 (A), by inserting ‘‘, or any person with whom 

19 the institution has an agreement to provide 

20 educational programs, marketing, advertising, 

21 recruiting or admissions services,’’ after ‘‘edu22 cational institution’’; 

23 (B) in paragraph (A)(ii), by striking ‘‘1- 

24 month’’ and inserting ‘‘one-month’’; and 


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1 (C) by striking subparagraph (B) and in2 serting the following new subparagraph (B): 

3 ‘‘(B) Provides a commission, bonus, or other in4 centive payment based directly or indirectly on suc5 cess in securing enrollments or financial aid to any 

6 persons or entities engaged in any student recruiting 

7 or admission activities or in making decisions re8 garding the award of student financial assistance.’’; 

9 (3) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking clause (ii) 

10 and inserting the following new clauses: 

11 ‘‘(ii) Suspending the approval of the courses 

12 and programs of education offered by the edu13 cational institution by disapproving new enrollments 

14 of eligible veterans and eligible persons in each 

15 course or program of education offered by that edu16 cational institution. 

17 ‘‘(iii) Revoking the approval of the courses and 

18 programs of education offered by the educational in19 stitution by disapproving all enrollments of eligible 

20 veterans and eligible persons in each course or pro21 gram of education offered by that educational insti22 tution’’; and 

23 (4) in paragraph (5)(A), by striking ‘‘1-aca24 demic-year period’’ and inserting ‘‘one-academic-year 

25 period’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS. 

2 (a) TITLE 38.—Title 38, United States Code, is 

3 amended as follows: 

4 (1) The second section 1164, as added by sec5 tion 5501 the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, 

6 M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improve7 ment Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–315), is redesig8 nated as section 1166 and transferred so as to ap9 pear after section 1165 (and the table of sections at 

10 the beginning of chapter 11 of such title is con11 formed accordingly). 

12 (2) Subsection (l) of section 3313, as added by 

13 section 1010 of such Act (as effective on August 1, 

14 2021), is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(l) VERIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall re17 quire— 

18 ‘‘(A) each educational institution to submit 

19 to the Secretary verification of each individual 

20 who is enrolled in a course or program of edu21 cation at the educational institution and is re22 ceiving educational assistance under this chap23 ter— 

24 ‘‘(i) not later than such time as the 

25 Secretary determines reasonable after the 


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1 date on which the individual is enrolled; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) not later than such time as the 

4 Secretary determines reasonable after the 

5 last date on which a student is able to 

6 withdraw from the course or program of 

7 education without penalty; and 

8 ‘‘(B) each individual who is enrolled in a 

9 course or program of education and is receiving 

10 educational assistance under this chapter to 

11 submit to the Secretary verification of such en12 rollment for each month during which the indi13 vidual is so enrolled and receiving such edu14 cational assistance. 

15 ‘‘(2) FORM OF VERIFICATION.—Verification 

16 under this subsection shall be in an electronic form 

17 prescribed by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(3) FAILURE TO SUBMIT VERIFICATION.—If 

19 an individual fails to submit the verification required 

20 under paragraph (1)(B) for two consecutive months, 

21 the Secretary may not make a monthly housing sti22 pend payment to the individual under this section 

23 until the individual submits such verification.’’. 

24 (3) Section 3673A, as added by section 1013 of 

25 such Act, is amended— 


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1 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘search2 able’’; and 

3 (B) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘search4 able’’ before ‘‘database’’. 

5 (4) The subsection (f) of section 3679, as added 

6 by section 1017 of such Act, is redesignated as para7 graph (3) of subsection (a) of such section 3679 and 

8 is transferred so as to appear after paragraph (2) of 

9 such subsection. 

10 (5) Section 3696(g)(4)(A)(iii)(III), as amended 

11 by section 1020 of such Act, is amended by striking 

12 ‘‘paragraph (3)(B) of this subsection’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘paragraph (3)’’. 

14 (b) JOHNNY ISAKSON AND DAVID P. ROE, M.D. VET15 ERANS HEALTH CARE AND BENEFITS IMPROVEMENT ACT

16 OF 2020.—The Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. 

17 Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 

18 2020 (Public Law 116–315) is amended as follows: 

19 (1) In section 1013(a)(1), by inserting ‘‘of title 

20 38’’ after ‘‘of chapter 36’’. 

21 (2) In section 2205(c)— 

22 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘EFFEC23 TIVE DATE’’ and inserting ‘‘APPLICABILITY’’; 

24 and 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘the date that is two years 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘the date of the enactment of this 

4 Act and shall apply with respect to grants ap5 plications submitted on or after the date that is 

6 two years after the date of the enactment of 

7 this Act.’’. 

8 (3) In section 4101(b), by striking ‘‘sub9 chapter’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter’’. 

10 (4) In section 5501— 

11 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘of 

12 such title’’ and inserting ‘‘of title 38, United 

13 States Code’’; and 

14 (B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘section 

15 1164’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘sec16 tion 1166’’. 

17 SEC. 8. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

18 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

19 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

20 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

21 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

22 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

23 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, proVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:02 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2523.RFS H2523

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1 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

2 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 20, 2021. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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