I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 143 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit to 

encourage private employers to hire veterans, to amend title 38, United 

States Code, to clarify the reasonable efforts an employer may make 

under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights 

Act with respect to hiring veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2021 

Ms. JACKSON LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

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

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 provide 

a tax credit to encourage private employers to hire veterans, to amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify 

the reasonable efforts an employer may make under the 

Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment 

Rights Act with respect to hiring 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Helping to Encourage Real Opportunity for Veterans 

4 Transitioning from Battlespace to Workplace Act of 

5 2021’’ or the ‘‘HERO Transition from Battlespace to 

6 Workplace Act of 2021’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The majority of men and women 

9 transitioning from the Armed Services to the civilian 

10 sector have experienced difficulty in making the 

11 transition and regard their greatest challenge to be 

12 finding a job that is meaningful to them even though 

13 nearly 90 percent of them believe they have the gen14 eral skills needed to land their ideal job such as 

15 problem solving, leadership, ethics, and time man16 agement and most believe they possess specific mar17 ketable skills, such as information technology, health 

18 care, mechanical, and aviation. 

19 (2) Among the biggest challenges veterans face 

20 in securing suitable employment in the civilian sector 

21 are: overcoming the difficulty in translating to em22 ployers the value of the skills they learned in the 

23 military; competing with candidates who have been 

24 in the workforce longer; the perceived reluctance of 

25 employers to hire due to concerns about multiple de26 ployments or military training and time commitVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H143.IH H143

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1 ments of the Reserve Component; and fears of deal2 ing with veterans’ disabilities. 

3 (3) Studies have shown that more than 80 per4 cent of veterans transitioning from military service 

5 to the civilian sector regard employer-provided vet6 eran support programs as ‘‘critical’’ or ‘‘important’’ 

7 to their success and believe it is important for em8 ployers to provide flexible leave for the health issues 

9 they face. 

10 SEC. 2. TAX CREDIT FOR MILITARY RELATIONS MANAGERS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub12 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

13 1986 (relating to business-related credits) is amended by 

14 adding at the end the following new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 45U. MILITARY RELATIONS MANAGER. 

16 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—For purposes of sec17 tion 38, in the case of an employer, the military relations 

18 manager tax credit determined under this section for a 

19 taxable year is an amount equal to $1,000 multiplied by 

20 the number of veterans— 

21 ‘‘(1) who begin work for the employer in the 

22 taxable year or preceding taxable year of the em23 ployer, and 

24 ‘‘(2) with respect to whom a qualified military 

25 relations manager is exercising the duties described 


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1 in section 4303(17)(B) of title 38, United States 

2 Code. 

3 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF VETERANS PER

5 MILITARY RELATIONS MANAGER.—Not more than 25 

6 veterans hired in a taxable year may be taken into 

7 account under subsection (a) for each qualified mili8 tary relations manager. 

9 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM SERVICE WITH EMPLOYER.—A 

10 veteran may not be taken into account for purposes 

11 of subsection (a) until the veteran has provided con12 tinuous service for the employer for the 8-month pe13 riod beginning on the day the veteran first begins 

14 work with the employer and with respect to whom 

15 the qualified military relations manager is exercising 

16 the duties described in section 4303(17)(B) of title 

17 38, United States Code. 

18 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

19 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED MILITARY RELATIONS MAN20 AGER.—For purposes of this section, the term 

21 ‘qualified military relations manager’ means, with 

22 respect to an employer, a military relations manager 

23 with the qualities described in section 4303(17)(A) 

24 of title 38, United States Code, who has been des25 ignated by the taxpayer to participate in the hiring 


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1 process and who carries out the duties described in 

2 section 4303(17)(B) of such Code. 

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

4 meaning given such term by section 101(2) of title 

5 38, United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(d) AGGREGATION RULE FOR EMPLOYER.—All per7 sons treated as a single employer for purposes of sub8 section (a) or (b) of section 52 shall be treated as one 

9 person for purposes of this section. 

10 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

11 such regulations or other guidance as the Secretary deter12 mines necessary or appropriate to carry out this section.’’. 

13 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

14 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code is 

15 amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph 

17 (32), 

18 (2) by striking the period at the end of para19 graph (33) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

21 paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(34) the military relations manager tax credit 

23 determined under section 45U(a).’’. 

24 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

25 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 


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1 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45U. Military Relations Manager.’’. 

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 3. HIRING OF VETERANS. 

7 (a) IMPROVEMENTS TO USERRA.— 

8 (1) REASONABLE EFFORTS OF EMPLOYER.— 

9 Section 4303 of title 38, United States Code, is 

10 amended— 

11 (A) in paragraph (10), by inserting before 

12 the period at the end the following: ‘‘, and may 

13 include designating an employee as a military 

14 relations manager and using the military skills 

15 translator database’’; and 

16 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

17 paragraphs: 

18 ‘‘(17) The term ‘military relations manager’ 

19 means an individual employed by an employer— 

20 ‘‘(A) who is an expert in— 

21 ‘‘(i) the process of transitioning from 

22 being a member of the Armed Forces to 

23 being a civilian; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) translating the skills, experience, 

25 and training gained in the Armed Forces 


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1 to skills, experience, and training needed in 

2 the private sector; and 

3 ‘‘(B) whose duties include— 

4 ‘‘(i) acting as a liaison between the 

5 employer and individuals covered under 

6 this chapter; 

7 ‘‘(ii) assisting the human resources 

8 personnel of the employer in evaluating in9 dividuals covered under this chapter seek10 ing employment with the employer, includ11 ing by using the military skills translator 

12 database; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) serving as a mentor to individ14 uals covered under this chapter who are 

15 employees of the employer. 

16 ‘‘(18) The term ‘military skills translator data17 base’ means the database that the Secretary of Vet18 erans Affairs maintains on a public Internet website 

19 to assist veterans, explain how skills, experience, and 

20 training gained in the Armed Forces relates to civil21 ian skills, experiences, and training.’’. 

22 (2) COMPLIANCE.—Section 4322(d) of title 38, 

23 United States Code, is amended by adding after the 

24 period at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘Such 

25 compliance may include the employer designating an 


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1 employee to act as a military relations manager and 

2 using the military skills translator database main3 tained by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs when as4 sessing a person for initial employment.’’. 

5 (b) MILITARY SKILLS TRANSLATOR DATABASE.— 

6 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— 

7 (1) ensure that the military skills translator 

8 database (as defined by section 4303(18) of title 38, 

9 United States Code, as added by subsection 

10 (a)(1)(B)) may be used by civilian employers to bet11 ter understand the skills, experience, and training of 

12 a veteran who seeks employment with the employer; 

13 and 

14 (2) conduct outreach to inform civilian employ15 ers of such database. 

Æ 


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