Title: HERO Transition from Battlespace to Workplace Act of 2017
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
Helping to Encourage Real Opportunity for Veterans Transitioning from Battlespace to Workplace Act of 2017 or the HERO Transition from Battlespace to Workplace Act of 2017
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a business-related tax credit for $1,000 times the number of veterans (not more than 25 in a taxable year) who begin work resulting from the efforts of a military relations manager.
The bill: (1) deems as a reasonable effort of an employer to employ veterans, for purposes of veteran employment and reemployment programs, the designation of an employee as a military relations manager and the use of the military skills translator database (database for assisting veterans in relating military skills, experience, and training to civilian skills, experience, and training); and (2) defines a "military relations manager" as an expert in the process of transitioning from being a member of the Armed Forces to being a civilian and in translating the skills, experience, and training gained in the Armed Forces to skills, experience, and training needed in the private sector.
The Department of Veterans Affairs shall: (1) ensure that the military skills translator database may be used by civilian employers, and (2) conduct outreach to inform civilian employers of such database.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 63 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 63

 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 3, 2017

 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Helping to 
Encourage Real Opportunity for Veterans Transitioning from Battlespace 
to Workplace Act of 2017'' or the ``HERO Transition from Battlespace to 
Workplace Act of 2017''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The majority of men and women transitioning from the 
        Armed Services to the civilian sector have experienced 
        difficulty in making the transition and regard their greatest 
        challenge to be finding a job that is meaningful to them even 
        though nearly 90 percent of them believe they have the general 
        skills needed to land their ideal job such as problem solving, 
        leadership, ethics, and time management and most believe they 
        possess specific marketable skills, such as information 
        technology, health care, mechanical, and aviation.
            (2) Among the biggest challenges veterans face in securing 
        suitable employment in the civilian sector are: overcoming the 
        difficulty in translating to employers the value of the skills 
        they learned in the military; competing with candidates who 
        have been in the workforce longer; the perceived reluctance of 
        employers to hire due to concerns about multiple deployments or 
        military training and time commitments of the Reserve 
        Component; and fears of dealing with veterans' disabilities.
            (3) Studies have shown that more than 80 percent of 
        veterans transitioning from military service to the civilian 
        sector regard employer-provided veteran support programs as 
        ``critical'' or ``important'' to their success and believe it 
        is important for employers to provide flexible leave for the 
        health issues they face.

SEC. 2. TAX CREDIT FOR MILITARY RELATIONS MANAGERS.

    (a) In General.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to business-related 
credits) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 45S. MILITARY RELATIONS MANAGER.

    ``(a) Allowance of Credit.--For purposes of section 38, in the case 
of an employer, the military relations manager tax credit determined 
under this section for a taxable year is an amount equal to $1,000 
multiplied by the number of veterans--
            ``(1) who begin work for the employer in the taxable year 
        or preceding taxable year of the employer, and
            ``(2) with respect to whom a qualified military relations 
        manager is exercising the duties described in section 
        4303(17)(B) of title 38, United States Code.
    ``(b) Limitations.--
            ``(1) Maximum number of veterans per military relations 
        manager.--Not more than 25 veterans hired in a taxable year may 
        be taken into account under subsection (a) for each qualified 
        military relations manager.
            ``(2) Minimum service with employer.--A veteran may not be 
        taken into account for purposes of subsection (a) until the 
        veteran has provided continuous service for the employer for 
        the 8-month period beginning on the day the veteran first 
        begins work with the employer and with respect to whom the 
        qualified military relations manager is exercising the duties 
        described in section 4303(17)(B) of title 38, United States 
        Code.
    ``(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) Qualified military relations manager.--For purposes 
        of this section, the term `qualified military relations 
        manager' means, with respect to an employer, a military 
        relations manager with the qualities described in section 
        4303(17)(A) of title 38, United States Code, who has been 
        designated by the taxpayer to participate in the hiring process 
        and who carries out the duties described in section 4303(17)(B) 
        of such Code.
            ``(2) Veteran.--The term `veteran' has the meaning given 
        such term by section 101(2) of title 38, United States Code.
    ``(d) Aggregation Rule for Employer.--All persons treated as a 
single employer for purposes of subsection (a) or (b) of section 52 
shall be treated as one person for purposes of this section.
    ``(e) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations 
or other guidance as the Secretary determines necessary or appropriate 
to carry out this section.''.
    (b) Credit Made Part of General Business Credit.--Subsection (b) of 
section 38 of such Code is amended by striking ``plus'' at the end of 
paragraph (35), by striking the period at the end of paragraph (36) and 
inserting ``, plus'', and by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(37) the military relations manager tax credit determined 
        under section 45S(a).''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart D of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by adding 
at the end the following new item:

``Sec. 45S. Military Relations Manager.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 3. HIRING OF VETERANS.

    (a) Improvements to USERRA.--
            (1) Reasonable efforts of employer.--Section 4303 of title 
        38, United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (10), by inserting before the 
                period at the end the following: ``, and may include 
                designating an employee as a military relations manager 
                and using the military skills translator database''; 
                and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraphs:
            ``(17) The term `military relations manager' means an 
        individual employed by an employer--
                    ``(A) who is an expert in--
                            ``(i) the process of transitioning from 
                        being a member of the Armed Forces to being a 
                        civilian; and
                            ``(ii) translating the skills, experience, 
                        and training gained in the Armed Forces to 
                        skills, experience, and training needed in the 
                        private sector; and
                    ``(B) whose duties include--
                            ``(i) acting as a liaison between the 
                        employer and individuals covered under this 
                        chapter;
                            ``(ii) assisting the human resources 
                        personnel of the employer in evaluating 
                        individuals covered under this chapter seeking 
                        employment with the employer, including by 
                        using the military skills translator database; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) serving as a mentor to individuals 
                        covered under this chapter who are employees of 
                        the employer.
            ``(18) The term `military skills translator database' means 
        the database that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs maintains 
        on a public Internet website to assist veterans, explain how 
        skills, experience, and training gained in the Armed Forces 
        relates to civilian skills, experiences, and training.''.
            (2) Compliance.--Section 4322(d) of title 38, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding after the period at the end the 
        following new sentence: ``Such compliance may include the 
        employer designating an employee to act as a military relations 
        manager and using the military skills translator database 
        maintained by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs when assessing 
        a person for initial employment.''.
    (b) Military Skills Translator Database.--The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall--
            (1) ensure that the military skills translator database (as 
        defined by section 4303(18) of title 38, United States Code, as 
        added by subsection (a)(1)(B)) may be used by civilian 
        employers to better understand the skills, experience, and 
        training of a veteran who seeks employment with the employer; 
        and
            (2) conduct outreach to inform civilian employers of such 
        database.
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