SEC. 4. TECHNICAL CORRECTION TO LISTING OF CERTAIN
HYBRID POSITIONS IN VETERANS HEALTH
ADMINISTRATION.
Section 7401(3) of title 38, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and dental technologists’’ and
inserting ‘‘technologists, dental hygienists, dental as-
sistants’’; and
(2) 
by 
striking 
‘‘technicians, 
therapeutic
radiologic technicians, and social workers’’ and in-
serting ‘‘technologists, therapeutic radiologic tech-
nologists, social workers, blind rehabilitation special-
ists, and blind rehabilitation outpatient specialists’’.
SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE FOR HIRING AND RETENTION OF
NURSES AT STATE VETERANS HOMES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Chapter 17 of title 38, United
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1743
the following new section:
‘‘§ 1744. Hiring and retention of nurses: payments to
assist States
‘‘(a) PAYMENT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall make
payments to States under this section for the purpose of
assisting State homes in the hiring and retention of nurses
and the reduction of nursing shortages at State homes.
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—Payments to a State
for a fiscal year under this section shall, subject to submis-
sion of an application, be made to any State that during
that year—
‘‘(1) receives per diem payments under this
subchapter for that fiscal year; and
‘‘(2) has in effect an employee incentive schol-
arship program or other employee incentive program
at a State home designed to promote the hiring and
retention of nursing staff and to reduce nursing
shortages at that home.
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS RECEIVED.—A State may use
an amount received under this section only to provide
funds for a program described in subsection (b)(2). Any
program shall meet such criteria as the Secretary may
prescribe. In prescribing such criteria, the Secretary shall
take into consideration the need for flexibility and innova-
tion.
‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—(1)
A payment under this section may not be used to provide
more than 50 percent of the costs for a fiscal year of the
employee incentive scholarship or other incentive program
for which the payment is made.
‘‘(2) The amount of the payment to a State under
this section for any fiscal year is, for each State home
in that State with a program described in subsection
(b)(2), the amount equal to 2 percent of the amount of
payments estimated to be made to that State, for that
State home, under section 1741 of this title for that fiscal
year.
‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.—A payment under this section
for any fiscal year with respect to any State home may
only be made based upon an application submitted by the
State seeking the payment with respect to that State
home. Any such application shall describe the nursing
shortage at the State home and the employee incentive
scholarship program or other incentive program described
in subsection (c) for which the payment is sought.
‘‘(f) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—Payments under this sec-
tion shall be made from funds available for other pay-
ments under this subchapter.
‘‘(g) DISBURSEMENT.—Payments under this section
to a State home shall be made as part of the disbursement
of payments under section 1741 of this title with respect
to that State home.
‘‘(h) USE OF CERTAIN RECEIPTS.—The Secretary
shall require as a condition of any payment under this sec-
tion that, in any case in which the State home receives
a refund payment made by an employee in breach of the
terms of an agreement for employee assistance that used
funds provided under this section, the payment shall be
returned to the State home’s incentive program account
and credited as a non-Federal funding source.
‘‘(i) ANNUAL REPORT FROM PAYMENT RECIPI-
ENTS.—Any State home receiving a payment under this
section for any fiscal year, shall, as a condition of the pay-
ment, be required to agree to provide to the Secretary a
report setting forth in detail the use of funds received
through the payment, including a descriptive analysis of
how effective the incentive program has been on nurse
staffing in the State home during that fiscal year. The
report for any fiscal year shall be provided to the Sec-
retary within 60 days of the close of the fiscal year and
shall be subject to audit by the Secretary. Eligibility for
a payment under this section for any later fiscal year is
contingent upon the receipt by the Secretary of the annual
report under this subsection for the previous year in ac-
cordance with this subsection.
‘‘(j) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe
regulations to carry out this section. The regulations shall
include the establishment of criteria for the award of pay-
ments under this section.’’.
(2) The table of sections at the beginning of such
chapter is amended by inserting after section 1743 the
following new item:
‘‘1744. Hiring and retention of nurses: payments to assist States.’’.
(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Veterans
Affairs shall implement section 1744 of title 38, United
States Code, as added by subsection (a), as expeditiously
as possible. The Secretary shall establish such interim pro-
cedures as necessary so as to ensure that payments are
made to eligible States under that section commencing not
later than January 1, 2005, notwithstanding that regula-
tions under subsection (j) of that section may not have
become final.
SEC. 6. TECHNICAL CLARIFICATION.
Section 8111(d)(2) of title 38, United States Code,
is amended by inserting before the period at the end of
the last sentence the following: ‘‘and shall be available for
any purpose authorized by this section’’.
SEC. 7. UNDER SECRETARY FOR HEALTH.
Section 305(a)(2) of title 38, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A),
by striking ‘‘shall be a doctor of medicine and’’; and
(2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and in
health-care’’ and inserting ‘‘or in health-care’’.
Passed the House of Representatives September 30,
2004.
Attest:
Clerk.
108TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4231
AN ACT
To provide for a pilot program in the Department
of Veterans Affairs to improve recruitment and
retention of nurses, and for other purposes.