Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2019

Bill: 116-hr-4824
Sponsor: Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]
Introduced: 2019-10-23 in the House
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Congressional oversight
Disability and paralysis
Employee hiring
Employment and training programs
Fires
First responders and emergency personnel
Government information and archives
Law enforcement officers
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Public contracts and procurement
Unemployment
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation

Summary:
action_date: 2019-10-23
text: 

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.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-11-08
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.
action_date: 2019-10-23
text: Referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, Armed Services, Science, Space, and Technology, and the Judiciary, 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.
action_date: 2019-10-23
text: Referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, Armed Services, Science, Space, and Technology, and the Judiciary, 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.
action_date: 2019-10-23
text: Referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, Armed Services, Science, Space, and Technology, and the Judiciary, 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.
action_date: 2019-10-23
text: Referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, Armed Services, Science, Space, and Technology, and the Judiciary, 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.
action_date: 2019-10-23
text: Referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, Armed Services, Science, Space, and Technology, and the Judiciary, 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.
action_date: 2019-10-23
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Technology.
action_date: 2019-10-23
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2019-10-23
text: Introduced in House