I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2861 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the work opportunity 

credit to certain recently discharged veterans, to improve the coordination 

of veteran job training services between the Department of Labor, the 

Department of Veteran Affairs, and the Department of Defense, to 

require transparency for Executive departments in meeting the Government-wide goals for contracting with small business concerns owned 

and controlled by service-disabled veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 23, 2015 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. ASHFORD, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 

HASTINGS, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. JONES, Ms. NORTON, Ms. HAHN, Ms. 

FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. KILMER, Ms. BASS, Mr. HECK of Washington, 

and Ms. MCCOLLUM) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees 

on Armed Services, Small Business, Education and the Workforce, and 

Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend 

the work opportunity credit to certain recently discharged 

veterans, to improve the coordination of veteran job 

training services between the Department of Labor, the 

Department of Veteran Affairs, and the Department of 

Defense, to require transparency for Executive departments in meeting the Government-wide goals for contracting with small business concerns owned and conVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2861.IH H2861

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trolled by service-disabled veterans, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Veteran Employment 

5 Transition Act’’. 

6 TITLE I—WORK OPPORTUNITY 

7 CREDIT FOR RECENTLY DIS8 CHARGED VETERANS 

9 SEC. 101. WORK OPPORTUNITY CREDIT FOR CERTAIN RE10 CENTLY DISCHARGED VETERANS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

12 51(d)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

13 by striking ‘‘means any veteran who is’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘means any recently discharged veteran, or any veteran 

15 if such veteran is’’. 

16 (b) RECENTLY DISCHARGED VETERAN.—Paragraph 

17 (3) of section 51(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

18 is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub20 paragraph (D), and 

21 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol22 lowing new subparagraph: 


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1 ‘‘(C) RECENTLY DISCHARGED VETERAN.— 

2 For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term 

3 ‘recently discharged veteran’ means— 

4 ‘‘(i) any individual who is described in 

5 clause (i) of subparagraph (B) (without re6 gard to certification), and 

7 ‘‘(ii) any member of the National 

8 Guard who has served for more than 180 

9 consecutive days of— 

10 ‘‘(I) active duty (within the 

11 meaning of title 32, United States 

12 Code) other than for training, 

13 ‘‘(II) full-time National Guard 

14 duty (within the meaning of such title 

15 32) other than for training, 

16 ‘‘(III) duty, other than inactive 

17 duty or duty for training, in State 

18 status (within the meaning of such 

19 title 32), or 

20 ‘‘(IV) any combination of duty 

21 described in subclause (I), (II), or 

22 (III), 

23 who has been discharged or released from duty 

24 meeting such requirements at any time during 

25 the 5-year period ending on the hiring date. 


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1 Such term shall not include any veteran who 

2 begins work for the employer before the date of 

3 the enactment of the Veteran Employment 

4 Transition Act.’’. 

5 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 51(d) of 

6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

7 (1) by adding at the end of paragraph (13) the 

8 following new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(E) PRE-SCREENING OF RECENTLY DIS10 CHARGED VETERANS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

12 subparagraph (A), the term ‘pre-screening 

13 notice’ shall include any documentation 

14 provided to an individual by the Depart15 ment of Defense or the National Guard 

16 upon release or discharge from the Armed 

17 Forces or from service in the National 

18 Guard which includes information suffi19 cient to establish that such individual sat20 isfies the requirements of paragraph 

21 (3)(C). 

22 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL CERTIFICATION NOT

23 REQUIRED.—Subparagraph (A) shall be 

24 applied without regard to clause (ii)(II) 

25 thereof in the case of a recently discharged 


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1 veteran who provides to the employer docu2 mentation described in clause (i).’’, and 

3 (2) by striking paragraph (14). 

4 (d) EFFECTIVE DATES.—The amendments made by 

5 subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall apply to individuals 

6 whose hiring date (as defined in section 51(d)(11) of the 

7 Internal Revenue Code of 1986) is on or after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act. 

9 (e) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DOCUMENTATION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Department of Defense 

11 and the National Guard, as applicable, shall pro12 vide— 

13 (A) to each individual who is discharged or 

14 released from active duty in the Armed Forces 

15 of the United States on or after the date of the 

16 enactment of this Act; and 

17 (B) to each member of the National Guard 

18 who is released from duty described in section 

19 51(d)(3)(C)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

20 1986 (as added by this Act) on or after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act; 

22 documentation described in paragraph (4) (in addi23 tion to the documentation which, without regard to 

24 this subsection, is provided at the time of such dis25 charge or release). If the documentation which is 


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1 provided without regard to this subsection at the 

2 time of the discharge or release described in the pre3 ceding sentence does not include information suffi4 cient to satisfy the requirements of section 

5 51(d)(13)(E)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 (as added by this Act), the Department of De7 fense or the National Guard, whichever is applicable, 

8 shall provide additional documentation which in9 cludes such information. 

10 (2) INFORMATIONAL BRIEFING AS PART OF

11 PRESEPARATION COUNSELING.—In the case of an 

12 individual who is discharged or released from duty 

13 described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph 

14 (1) after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

15 Department of Defense or the National Guard, 

16 whichever is applicable, shall inform such individual, 

17 as a part of the individual preseparation counseling 

18 required by section 1142 of title 10, United States 

19 Code, of the credit for employment of recently dis20 charged veterans under section 51 of the Internal 

21 Revenue Code of 1986. 

22 (3) REQUEST FOR DOCUMENTATION.—The De23 partment of Defense or the National Guard, which24 ever is applicable, shall provide upon request the 

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1 dividual who is discharged or released from duty de2 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B) of such para3 graph during the 5-year period preceding and in4 cluding the date of the enactment of this Act. 

5 (4) INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE OF WORK OPPOR6 TUNITY CREDIT.—The documentation described in 

7 this paragraph is a document which includes— 

8 (A) instructions for an individual to ensure 

9 treatment as a recently discharged veteran for 

10 purposes of section 51(d)(3)(C) of the Internal 

11 Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by this Act), 

12 (B) instructions for employers detailing the 

13 use of the credit under such section 51 with re14 spect to such individual, and 

15 (C) the dates during which the credit 

16 under such section 51 is available. 

17 Such instructions shall be developed in collaboration 

18 with the Internal Revenue Service. 

19 SEC. 102. WORK OPPORTUNITY CREDIT MADE PERMANENT 

20 FOR VETERANS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (4) of section 51(c) of 

22 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

23 as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION.—The term ‘wages’ shall 

2 not include any amount paid or incurred to any indi3 vidual who— 

4 ‘‘(A) is not a qualified veteran, and 

5 ‘‘(B) begins work for the employer after 

6 December 31, 2014.’’. 

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

8 subsection (a) applies to individuals who begin work for 

9 the employer after December 31, 2014. 

10 TITLE II—VETERAN EMPLOY11 MENT AND TRAINING SERV12 ICES 

13 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this title: 

15 (1) DISABLED VETERAN.—The term ‘‘disabled 

16 veteran’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

17 4211 of title 38, United States Code. 

18 (2) ECONOMICALLY AND EDUCATIONALLY DIS19 ADVANTAGED VETERAN.—The term ‘‘economically 

20 and educationally disadvantaged veteran’’ means 

21 such a veteran, within the meaning of chapter 41 of 

22 title 38, United States Code. 

23 (3) REHABILITATION PLAN.—The term ‘‘reha24 bilitation plan’’ means an individualized plan formu25 lated for a veteran under section 3107 of title 38, 


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1 United States Code, that has an employment objec2 tive. 

3 (4) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

4 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 

5 United States Code. 

6 (5) VETERAN JOB TRAINING PROGRAM.—The 

7 term ‘‘veteran job training program’’ means— 

8 (A) the Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Pro9 gram carried out under section 4103A of title 

10 38, United States Code; 

11 (B) the Homeless Veterans Reintegration 

12 Program carried out under section 2021 of that 

13 title; 

14 (C) the Local Veterans’ Employment Rep15 resentative Program carried out under section 

16 4104 of that title; 

17 (D) the Transition Assistance Program 

18 carried out under section 1144 of title 10, 

19 United States Code; 

20 (E) the Veterans Workforce Investment 

21 Program carried out under section 168 of the 

22 Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 

23 2913); and 


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1 (F) the Vocational Rehabilitation & Em2 ployment Program carried out under chapter 31 

3 of title 38, United States Code. 

4 (6) VETERAN JOB TRAINING SERVICES.—The 

5 term ‘‘veteran job training services’’ means the serv6 ices provided under a veteran job training program. 

7 SEC. 202. COORDINATION BETWEEN SECRETARY OF LABOR, 

8 SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND 

9 SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ON VETERAN JOB 

10 TRAINING. 

11 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

12 of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Vet13 erans Affairs, and the Secretary of Defense shall enter 

14 into an agreement, covering the 3 departments involved, 

15 to govern the coordination of veteran job training services. 

16 SEC. 203. IMPLEMENTATION REPORTS ON VETERAN JOB 

17 TRAINING PROGRAMS. 

18 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Veterans 

19 Affairs and the Secretary of Labor shall prepare an initial 

20 and a final report on the veteran job training programs 

21 of the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department 

22 of Labor as described in this section. 

23 (b) DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.—The 

24 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall include in each of the 

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1 partment of Veterans Affairs, information describing each 

2 of the following: 

3 (1) The actions taken by the Department to en4 sure that States receive sufficient guidance to com5 ply with Federal laws regarding veteran job training 

6 programs. 

7 (2) The extent to which the Department re8 viewed and incorporated into its operations— 

9 (A) the employment related initiatives of 

10 the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program 

11 under section 582 of the National Defense Au12 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public 

13 Law 110–181; 10 U.S.C. 10101 note); and 

14 (B) the conclusions of the Credentialing 

15 and Licensing Task Force of the Department of 

16 Defense. 

17 (3) The extent to which veterans’ employment 

18 outcomes result from participation in the Vocational 

19 Rehabilitation & Employment Program carried out 

20 under chapter 31 of title 38, United States Code, 

21 rather than from other factors. 

22 (4) Actions taken by the Department to ensure 

23 that veterans with a rehabilitation plan receive vet24 eran job training services consistent with the reha25 bilitation plan. 


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1 (5) Efforts taken by the Department to better 

2 serve veterans living in rural communities. 

3 (c) DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.—The Secretary of 

4 Labor shall include in each of the reports required by sub5 section (a), with regard to the Department of Labor, infor6 mation describing each of the following: 

7 (1) The matters referred to in paragraphs (1), 

8 (2), (3), and (5) of subsection (b). 

9 (2) The extent to which veterans’ employment 

10 outcomes result from participation in the veteran job 

11 training programs specified in subparagraphs (A) 

12 through (E) of section 201(5), rather than from 

13 other factors. 

14 (3) The actions taken by the Department to 

15 provide States with clear guidance for determining 

16 which veterans are classified as economically and 

17 educationally disadvantaged veterans, or in other 

18 categories of veterans. 

19 (4) The progress of the Department in clari20 fying its approach to determining which participants 

21 in the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program carried 

22 out under section 4103A of title 38, United States 

23 Code, shall receive intensive services (as defined in 

24 section 134(d)(3) of the Workforce Investment Act 

25 of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2864(d)(3))). 


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1 (5) How the Department reports on goals for 

2 performance, and actual performance, on perform3 ance standards or other measures, for each of its 

4 veterans job training programs, including an assess5 ment of how to better monitor employment outcomes 

6 for disabled veterans. 

7 (d) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.—The Secretary of 

8 Labor and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 

9 to Congress— 

10 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of en11 actment of this Act, the initial report required by 

12 subsection (a); and 

13 (2) not later than 2 years after such date, the 

14 final report required by subsection (a). 

15 (e) INTERNET PUBLICATION OF DEPARTMENT OF

16 LABOR DATA ON PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OUT17 COMES.—The Secretary of Labor shall publish on a pub18 licly accessible, user-friendly Internet website the goals 

19 and actual performance data described in subsection 

20 (c)(4). 


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1 SEC. 204. EXPANSION OF PILOT PROGRAM ON RECEIPT OF 

2 CIVILIAN CREDENTIALING FOR SKILLS RE3 QUIRED FOR MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPE4 CIALTIES. 

5 Section 558(b)(1) of the National Defense Authoriza6 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 112–81; 10 

7 U.S.C. 2015 note) is amended by striking ‘‘not less than 

8 three’’ and inserting ‘‘the MOS 31B Military Police, MOS 

9 15Q AC–Air Traffic Controller, and MOS 12M Fire Pro10 tection military occupational specialties and not fewer 

11 than three and not more than five additional’’. 

12 SEC. 205. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

13 Nothing in this title shall be construed to affect any 

14 other Federal law specifying a reporting requirement. 

15 TITLE III—HONORING PROMISES 

16 TO SERVICE-DISABLED VET17 ERANS 

18 SEC. 301. TRANSPARENCY IN CONTRACTING GOALS FOR 

19 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND 

20 CONTROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED VET21 ERANS. 

22 Section 15 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644) 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(s) TRANSPARENCY IN CONTRACTING GOALS FOR

25 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED

26 BY SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

2 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered contractor’ means a 

3 contractor that is required to submit a subcon4 tracting plan under section 8(d) to an Execu5 tive department; 

6 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Executive department’ has 

7 the meaning given that term in section 101 of 

8 title 5, United States Code; and 

9 ‘‘(C) the term ‘physically completed’ has 

10 the meaning given that term in section 4.804– 

11 4 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, or any 

12 successor thereto. 

13 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO ADMINISTRATOR.—Not later 

14 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this sub15 section, and annually thereafter, the head of each 

16 Executive department shall submit to the Adminis17 trator a report that contains— 

18 ‘‘(A) the percentage of the total value of 

19 all prime contracts awarded by the Executive 

20 department to small business concerns owned 

21 and controlled by service-disabled veterans dur22 ing the 1-year period ending on the date of the 

23 report; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the name of each covered contractor 

2 to which the Executive department awards a 

3 contract; 

4 ‘‘(C) for each contract awarded to a cov5 ered contractor by the Executive department— 

6 ‘‘(i) the percentage goal negotiated 

7 under section 8(d)(6)(A) for the utilization 

8 as subcontractors of small business con9 cerns owned and controlled by service-dis10 abled veterans; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) if the contract is physically com12 pleted during the 1-year period ending on 

13 the date of the report, the percentage of 

14 the total value of subcontracts entered into 

15 by the covered contractor awarded to small 

16 business concerns owned and controlled by 

17 service-disabled veterans; 

18 ‘‘(D) the weighted average percentage goal 

19 negotiated by each covered contractor under 

20 section 8(d)(6)(A) for the utilization as sub21 contractors of small business concerns owned 

22 and controlled by service-disabled veterans for 

23 all contracts awarded by the Executive depart24 ment to the covered contractor; 


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1 ‘‘(E) for all contracts awarded to covered 

2 contractors by the Executive department that 

3 are physically completed during the 1-year pe4 riod ending on the date of the report, the per5 centage of the total value of all subcontracts 

6 awarded by covered contractors that were 

7 awarded to small business concerns owned and 

8 controlled by service-disabled veterans; and 

9 ‘‘(F) the dollar amount by which the Exec10 utive department exceeded or failed to meet the 

11 Government-wide goals under subsection (g) for 

12 prime contracts and subcontracts awarded to 

13 small business concerns owned and controlled 

14 by service-disabled veterans. 

15 ‘‘(3) RANKINGS.—For the first full fiscal year 

16 following the date of enactment of this subsection, 

17 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Administrator 

18 shall rank— 

19 ‘‘(A) the Executive departments, based 

20 on— 

21 ‘‘(i) the percentage of the total value 

22 of prime contracts awarded by the Execu23 tive departments to small business con24 cerns owned and controlled by service-dis25 abled veterans; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the percentage of the total value 

2 of subcontracts awarded by covered con3 tractors that are awarded contracts by the 

4 Executive departments to small business 

5 concerns owned and controlled by service6 disabled veterans; and 

7 ‘‘(B) covered contractors, based on the 

8 percentage of the total value of subcontracts 

9 awarded by the covered contractors to small 

10 business concerns owned and controlled by serv11 ice-disabled veterans. 

12 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.— 

13 ‘‘(A) WEBSITE.—Except as provided in 

14 subparagraph (B), the Administrator shall pub15 lish on a website accessible to the public a user16 friendly, electronically searchable report con17 taining— 

18 ‘‘(i) the information submitted to the 

19 Administrator under paragraph (2); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the rankings made by the Ad21 ministrator under paragraph (3). 

22 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR NATIONAL SECU23 RITY.—If the head of an Executive department 

24 determines that publication of information con25 tained in a report submitted under paragraph 


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1 (2) would be detrimental to national security, 

2 the Administrator shall not publish the infor3 mation on the website described in subpara4 graph (A). 

5 ‘‘(C) UPDATING.—The Administrator shall 

6 update the contents of the website described in 

7 subparagraph (A) not less frequently than an8 nually. 

9 ‘‘(5) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Adminis11 trator shall submit to Congress an annual re12 port on the progress of each Executive depart13 ment toward meeting the Government-wide 

14 goals for contracting and subcontracting estab15 lished under subsection (g). 

16 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Each report under this 

17 paragraph shall include— 

18 ‘‘(i) a statement of whether the 

19 website described in paragraph (4) con20 tains the latest data reported to the Ad21 ministrator by the Executive departments; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) a recommendation of a prime 

24 contractor that should be recognized by 

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1 tracting with small business concerns 

2 owned and controlled by service-disabled 

3 veterans. 

4 ‘‘(6) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

5 this subsection may be construed to affect any other 

6 reporting requirement under Federal law.’’. 

Æ 


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