I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 942 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a pilot project on 

the use of educational assistance under programs of the Department 

of Veterans Affairs to defray training costs associated with the purchase 

of certain franchise enterprises. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2009 

Mr. ALEXANDER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed 

Services, 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 direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a 

pilot project on the use of educational assistance under 

programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs to defray training costs associated with the purchase of certain franchise enterprises. 

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 ‘‘Veterans Self-Employ5 ment Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF EDUCATION BENEFITS FOR PAY2 MENT OF TRAINING COSTS ASSOCIATED 

3 WITH THE PURCHASE OF CERTAIN FRAN4 CHISE ENTERPRISES. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FIVE-YEAR PILOT

6 PROJECT.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall con7 duct a five-year pilot project to test the feasibility and ad8 visability of the use of educational assistance under the 

9 programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs under the 

10 following provisions of law to pay for training costs associ11 ated with the purchase of a franchise enterprise: 

12 (1) Chapter 30 of title 38, United States Code. 

13 (2) Chapter 32 of such title. 

14 (3) Chapter 35 of such title. 

15 (4) Chapter 1606 of title 10, United States 

16 Code. 

17 (5) Chapter 1607 of title 10, United States 

18 Code. 

19 (b) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

21 the amount of educational assistance payable under 

22 the applicable provision of law referred to in sub23 section (a) to an individual entitled to such assist24 ance under such provision of law for the payment of 

25 training costs associated with the purchase of a 

franchise enterprise is equal to the lesser of 1 26 ⁄2 of 


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the franchise fee or 1 1 ⁄3 of the remaining amount of 

2 educational assistance to which the individual is en3 titled under such applicable provision of law, such 

4 remaining amount determined as of the date of ap5 proval by the Secretary of the individual’s applica6 tion for such assistance for payment of such training 

7 costs. 

8 (2) LUMP SUM PAYMENT.—Amounts payable to 

9 an individual under paragraph (1) shall be made in 

10 a lump sum. 

11 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR PAYMENT.— 

12 (1) REQUIREMENT FOR THE PROVISION OF

13 TRAINING.—Payment may not be made for training 

14 costs associated with the purchase of a franchise en15 terprise under the pilot project under this section 

16 unless— 

17 (A) appropriate training is required and 

18 provided with respect to the purchase and oper19 ation of the franchise operation; and 

20 (B) such training, and the entity or orga21 nization offering the training, are approved by 

22 the Secretary in accordance with this sub23 section. 

24 (2) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR AP25 PROVAL.—The requirements of approval for such 


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1 training and organizations or entities offering such 

2 training shall be in accordance with the applicable 

3 provisions of chapters 30, 32, 35, and 36 of title 38, 

4 United States Code, and chapters 1606 and 1607 of 

5 title 10, United States Code, and with regulations 

6 prescribed by the Secretary to carry out this section, 

7 and shall include the following: 

8 (A) The organization or entity certifies to 

9 the Secretary that the training offered by the 

10 organization or entity is generally accepted, in 

11 accordance with relevant government, business, 

12 or industry standards, employment policies, or 

13 hiring practices, as attesting to a level of knowl14 edge or skill required to own and successfully 

15 operate a franchise operation. 

16 (B) The organization or entity is licensed, 

17 chartered, or incorporated in a State and has 

18 offered such training for a minimum of two 

19 years before the date on which the organization 

20 or entity first submits to the Secretary an ap21 plication for approval under this section. 

22 (C) The organization or entity maintains 

23 appropriate records with respect to all trainees 

24 who pursue such training for a period preVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:47 Feb 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H942.IH H942

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1 scribed by the Secretary, but in no case for a 

2 period of less than three years. 

3 (D) The organization or entity promptly 

4 issues progress reports on the training and no5 tice of the successful completion of such train6 ing to the trainee. 

7 (E) The organization or entity has in place 

8 a process to review complaints submitted 

9 against the organization or entity with respect 

10 to the training or the process for acquiring a 

11 franchise enterprise. 

12 (F) The organization or entity furnishes to 

13 the Secretary the following information: 

14 (i) A description of the training of15 fered by the organization or entity, includ16 ing the purpose of the training, the voca17 tional, professional, governmental, and 

18 other entities that recognize the training, 

19 and the license or certificate (if any) issued 

20 upon successful completion of the training. 

21 (ii) The requirements to undertake 

22 the training, including the amount of the 

23 fee charged for the training and any pre24 requisite education, training, skills, or 

25 other certification. 


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1 (G) Upon request of the Secretary, the or2 ganization or entity furnishes such information 

3 to the Secretary that the Secretary determines 

4 necessary to perform an assessment of— 

5 (i) the training conducted by the orga6 nization or entity; and 

7 (ii) the applicability of the training 

8 over such periods of time as the Secretary 

9 determines appropriate. 

10 (3) CONSIDERATION OF PAST PERFORMANCE.— 

11 In determining whether to make payment under the 

12 pilot project to an organization or entity offering 

13 training, the Secretary shall consider the rate of suc14 cess of the organization or entity in the training of 

15 individuals to own and successfully operate a fran16 chise enterprise. 

17 (4) AUTHORITY FOR THE USE OF STATE AP18 PROVING AGENCIES FOR APPROVAL OF TRAINING

19 AND ORGANIZATIONS OR ENTITIES.—To the extent 

20 that the Secretary determines practicable, State ap21 proving agencies may, in lieu of the Secretary, ap22 prove training, and organizations and entities offer23 ing such training, under this section. 

24 (d) ENTITLEMENT CHARGES.— 


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1 (1) CHAPTER 30.—The number of months of 

2 entitlement charged an individual under chapter 30 

3 of title 38, United States Code, for educational as4 sistance for the payment of training costs under sub5 section (b)(1) is equal to the number (including any 

6 fraction) determined by dividing the total amount of 

7 educational assistance paid such individual for such 

8 training costs by the full-time monthly institutional 

9 rate of educational assistance which, except for sub10 section (b)(1), such individual would otherwise be 

11 paid under such chapter. 

12 (2) CHAPTER 32.—The number of months of 

13 entitlement charged an individual under chapter 32 

14 of title 38, United States Code, for educational as15 sistance for the payment of training costs under sub16 section (b)(1) is equal to the number (including any 

17 fraction) determined by dividing the total amount of 

18 educational assistance paid such individual for such 

19 training costs by the full-time monthly institutional 

20 rate of educational assistance which, except for sub21 section (b)(1), such individual would otherwise be 

22 paid under such chapter. 

23 (3) CHAPTER 35.—The number of months of 

24 entitlement charged an individual under chapter 35 

25 of title 38, United States Code, for educational asVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:47 Feb 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H942.IH H942

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1 sistance for the payment of training costs under sub2 section (b)(1) is equal to the number (including any 

3 fraction) determined by dividing the total amount of 

4 educational assistance paid such individual for such 

5 training costs by the full-time monthly institutional 

6 rate of educational assistance which, except for sub7 section (b)(1), such individual would otherwise be 

8 paid under such chapter. 

9 (4) CHAPTER 1606.—The number of months of 

10 entitlement charged an individual under chapter 

11 1606 of title 10, United States Code, for educational 

12 assistance for the payment of training costs under 

13 subsection (b)(1) is equal to the number (including 

14 any fraction) determined by dividing the total 

15 amount of educational assistance paid such indi16 vidual for such training costs by the full-time 

17 monthly institutional rate of educational assistance 

18 which, except for subsection (b)(1), such individual 

19 would otherwise be paid under such chapter. 

20 (5) CHAPTER 1607.—The number of months of 

21 entitlement charged an individual under chapter 

22 1607 of title 10, United States Code, for educational 

23 assistance for the payment of training costs under 

24 subsection (b)(1) is equal to the number (including 

25 any fraction) determined by dividing the total 


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1 amount of educational assistance paid such indi2 vidual for such training costs by the full-time 

3 monthly institutional rate of educational assistance 

4 which, except for subsection (b)(1), such individual 

5 would otherwise be paid under such chapter. 

6 (e) ADMINISTRATION.—Except as otherwise specifi7 cally provided in this section or chapter 30, 32, 35, or 

8 36 of title 38, United States Code, or chapters 1606 or 

9 1607 of title 10, United States Code, in implementing this 

10 section and making payment under the applicable provi11 sion of law referred to in subsection (a) of training costs 

12 associated with the purchase of a franchise enterprise, the 

13 training is deemed to be a ‘‘course’’ and the organization 

14 or entity that offers such training is deemed to be an ‘‘in15 stitution’’ or ‘‘educational institution’’, respectively, as 

16 those terms are applied under and for purposes of sections 

17 3671, 3673, 3674, 3678, 3679, 3680(a), 3680A, 3681, 

18 3682, 3683, 3685, 3690, 3691, and 3696 of title 38, 

19 United States Code. 

20 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Payments under this 

21 section shall not be construed as payment for on-job train22 ing benefits under title 38, United States Code. 

23 (g) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall imple24 ment the pilot project under this section as soon as pracVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:47 Feb 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H942.IH H942

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1 ticable, but in no case later than the date that is 18 

2 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (h) GAO EVALUATION AND REPORT.— 

4 (1) EVALUATION.—The Comptroller General of 

5 the United States shall conduct periodic evaluations 

6 of the pilot project. 

7 (2) REPORT.—Not later than the date that is 

8 the end of the third year of the pilot project, the 

9 Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a re10 port on the evaluations conducted under paragraph 

11 (1). The report shall include the following informa12 tion: 

13 (A) The number of individuals who partici14 pated in the pilot project. 

15 (B) The number of franchise enterprises 

16 operated by such individuals by reason of such 

17 participation. 

18 (C) The aggregate payments made by the 

19 Secretary of Veterans Affairs under the pilot 

20 project. 

21 (D) Recommendations for the continuation 

22 of the pilot project. 


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1 (E) Recommendations for such other ad2 ministrative action or legislation as the Comp3 troller General determines to be appropriate. 

Æ 


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