Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2019

To reauthorize the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, to provide assistance to small businesses owned by veterans, and for other purposes. 1. Short title; table of contents (a) Short title This Act may be cited as the Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2019 (b) Table of contents The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Title I—Renewing our vow to hire heroes Sec. 101. Reauthorization of veterans retraining assistance program. Sec. 102. Extension of additional rehabilitation programs for persons who have exhausted rights to unemployment benefits under State law. Sec. 103. Reauthorization of collaborative veterans' training, mentoring, and placement program. Title II—Building on our vow to hire heroes Sec. 201. Unified employment portal for veterans. Sec. 202. Grants to hire veterans as first responders. Sec. 203. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans. I Renewing our vow to hire heroes 101. Reauthorization of veterans retraining assistance program (a) Extension Subsection (k) of section 211 of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 ( Public Law 112–56 38 U.S.C. 4100 March 31, 2014 December 31, 2021 (b) Number of eligible veterans Subsection (a)(2) of such section is amended— (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking and (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs: (C) 50,000 during fiscal year 2020; (D) 50,000 during fiscal year 2021; (E) 50,000 during fiscal year 2022; and (F) 50,000 during the period beginning October 1, 2022, and ending December 31, 2023. . (c) Clarification of limitation on aggregate amount of assistance Subsection (b) of such section is amended by striking up to 12 months of retraining assistance provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs an aggregate of not more than 12 months of retraining assistance provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under this section (d) Updated report Subsection (i) of such section is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (3) Update Not later than December 31, 2022, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in collaboration with the Secretary of Labor, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an update to the report described in paragraph (1). . (e) Conforming amendment Subsection (e)(1)(G) of such section is amended by striking by not later than October 1, 2013, 102. Extension of additional rehabilitation programs for persons who have exhausted rights to unemployment benefits under State law Section 3102(b)(4) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking March 31, 2014 March 31, 2022 103. Reauthorization of collaborative veterans' training, mentoring, and placement program Subsection (e) of section 4104A of title 38, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: (e) Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section amounts as follows: (1) $4,500,000 for the period consisting of fiscal years 2020 and 2021. (2) $4,500,000 for the period consisting of fiscal years 2022 and 2023. . II Building on our vow to hire heroes 201. Unified employment portal for veterans Section 4105 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: (c) (1) The Secretary shall develop a single, unified Federal web-based employment portal, for use by veterans, containing information regarding all Federal programs and activities concerning employment, unemployment, and training to the extent the programs and activities affect veterans. (2) The Secretary shall work with representatives from the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Small Business Administration, and other Federal agencies and organizations concerned with veterans' issues, to determine an appropriate platform and implementing agency for the portal. The Secretary shall enter into an agreement with the other Federal agencies for the implementation of the portal. . 202. Grants to hire veterans as first responders (a) Grants for firefighters The Secretary of Homeland Security shall award grants under section 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 ( 15 U.S.C. 2229a (b) Grants for law enforcement officers The Attorney General shall award grants under part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 ( 34 U.S.C. 10381 (c) Priority In awarding grants under this section to hire veterans, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General shall give priority to the hiring of veterans who served on active duty in the Armed Forces on or after September 11, 2001. (d) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $250,000,000. 203. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans (a) Civilian contracts (1) In general Chapter 33 3313. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans (a) Preference With respect to the procurement of goods and services using competitive procedures by executive agencies, where such procurement is valued at $25,000,000 or higher, the Administrator shall establish a preference, and criteria for applying such preference, for a covered offeror. (b) Congressional report Prior to establishing the preference described in subsection (a), the Administrator shall provide a report to Congress that includes— (1) a plan for implementing such preference, including penalties for an offeror that willfully and intentionally misrepresents the veteran status of the employees of the offeror in a bid submitted under subsection (a); and (2) the process for assessing and verifying offeror compliance with regulations relating to equal opportunity for veterans requirements. (c) Covered offeror defined In this section, the term covered offeror . (2) Clerical amendment The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding after the item relating to section 3312 the following new item: 3313. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans. . (b) Defense contracts (1) In general Chapter 137 2339b. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans (a) Preference With respect to the procurement of goods and services using competitive procedures by executive agencies, where such procurement is valued at $25,000,000 or higher, the Administrator shall establish a preference, and criteria for applying such preference, for a covered offeror. (b) Congressional report Prior to establishing the preference described in subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall provide a report to Congress that includes— (1) a plan for implementing such preference, including penalties for an offeror that willfully and intentionally misrepresents the veteran status of the employees of the offeror in a bid submitted under subsection (a); and (2) the process for assessing and verifying offeror compliance with regulations relating to equal opportunity for veterans requirements. (c) Covered offeror defined In this section, the term covered offeror . (2) Clerical amendment The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding after the item relating to section 2339a the following new item: 2339b. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans. . (c) Applicability The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to contracts entered into 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. (d) Regulations Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be amended to carry out the requirements of section 3313 of title 41, United States Code, and section 2339b of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsections (a) and (b), respectively.

Summary: Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2019 This bill addresses programs and policies related to the employment of veterans. Specifically, the bill reauthorizes through December 31, 2021, the veterans retraining assistance program, which previously provided assistance for programs of education that led to in-demand jobs. The bill authorizes up to 50,000 veteran participants in the program during FY2020 through December 31, 2023. Under the bill, the program entitles veterans for an aggregate of 12 months retraining assistance. The bill also reauthorizes through (1) March 31, 2022, additional Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs for certain disabled veterans who have completed a VA rehabilitation program and have exhausted their rights to state unemployment benefits; and (2) FY2023, the collaborative veterans' training, mentoring, and placement program. The VA must develop a single, unified federal web-based employment portal for veterans to access information on federal programs and activities concerning veteran employment, unemployment, and training. The bill requires the (1) Department of Homeland Security to award grants to hire veterans as firefighters, and (2) Department of Justice to award grants to hire veterans as law enforcement officers. Finally, the bill requires the Office of Federal Procurement Policy within the Office of Management and Budget to establish a preference for the procurement of certain contracts (including defense contracts) valued at $25 million or higher. Specifically, the office must establish a preference for contracting with offerors that employ a specified percent of veterans as full-time employees.