Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2012-09-25 00:00:00

Veterans Jobs Corps Act of 2012 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) (Secretary) to establish a veteran jobs corps to employ veterans: (1) in conservation, resource management, and historic preservation projects on public lands and maintenance and improvement projects for cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the National Cemetery Administration; and (2) as firefighters and law enforcement officers. Requires priority employment for veterans who served on active duty on or after September 11, 2001. Provides for such employment in coordination with the Attorney General, the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, and the Interior. Directs the Secretary to establish a steering committee for assistance in providing such employment. Directs the head of each federal agency to develop a plan for exercising, during the five-year period beginning on the enactment of this Act, current Department of Defense (DOD) and VA authority to hire qualified veterans for positions within the federal government. Includes as qualified veterans those who: (1) are disabled or recently separated; (2) served on active duty during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized; or (3) while serving on active duty, participated in a military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded. Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to ensure that, under such plans, agencies shall appoint no less than 10,000 qualified veterans during the five-year period. Requires the Director to report to the congressional veterans and oversight committees on activities carried out under this section. Requires a state, as a condition for receipt of a grant or contract from the VA for support of disabled veterans' outreach specialists and local veterans' employment representatives, to establish a program which issues a license or credential to a veteran without requiring any training or apprenticeship if such veteran: (1) receives a satisfactory score on completion of an examination administered by that state, and (2) has at least 10 years of experience in a military occupational specialty that is similar to the civilian occupation for which such license or credential is required. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) furnish each one-stop (job search) center with a list of all Internet websites and applications identified as beneficial for veterans in pursuit of employment; (2) coordinate with public and private entities to identify websites and applications not included on such list that match veterans seeking employment with available jobs based on skills acquired as members of the Armed Forces, and allow employers to post information about available jobs; and (3) report on such websites and applications to the veterans and education committees. Directs the Secretary, as a condition of a grant or contract to a state for certain veterans' employment and training programs, to require the state to demonstrate the consideration of any military training received by a veteran when approving or denying a license or certification as a nursing assistant, certified nursing assistant, commercial driver, emergency medical technician EMT-B or EMT-1, or emergency medical technician-paramedic. Directs the Secretaries of Labor and Education to jointly conduct and report to Congress on a study to determine the value and utility of a registry of recognized postsecondary credentials valued by employers, individuals, providers of education and training, economic development professionals, state and local officials, and other relevant stakeholders. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish minimum funding levels for specified veterans' benefits contracts and grants to ensure that each state receives sufficient funding to support at least one disabled veterans' outreach program specialist and one local veterans' employment representative per 5,000 square miles of service delivery area within the state. Directs the Secretary of Labor, during the three-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, to provide the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) to veterans and their spouses at locations other than military installations in at least three and up to five states selected by the Secretary based on the highest rates of veteran unemployment. Requires reports from such Secretary and the Comptroller General to Congress on such TAP training. Expands VA small business contracting goals to include small businesses fully, but conditionally, owned by one or more veterans. Treats the surviving spouse of a service-disabled veteran who acquires the ownership interest in a small business of the deceased veteran as such veteran, for purposes of eligibility for VA service-disabled small business contracting goals and preferences, for a period of: (1) 10 years after the veteran's death, if such veteran was either 100% disabled or died from a service-connected disability; or (2) 3 years after such death, if the veteran was less than 100% disabled and did not die from a service-connected disability. Treats a small business acquired by the surviving spouse or dependent from a member of the Armed Forces killed during active duty as a small business owned and controlled by a service-disabled veteran, for purposes of VA small business contracting goals and preferences. Continues such treatment for the period beginning on the date of the member's death and ending on the earlier of: (1) the date on which the surviving spouse remarries or relinquishes such ownership interest or ten years after the member's death, or (2) the date on which the surviving dependent relinquishes such ownership interest or ten years after the member's death. Provides that if the Secretary determines, for purposes of VA small business contracting goals, that an individual would have had a greater degree of ownership of a small business in a state other than a community property state, then the Secretary shall treat such small business as licensed in a non-community property state. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for a 100% continuous levy upon the property and rights of Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) providers and suppliers neglecting or refusing to pay taxes. Permits the Secretary of State to deny, revoke, or limit a passport to any individual upon receiving certification from the Secretary of the Treasury that such individual has a delinquent tax debt in an amount in excess of $50,000. Extends through March 31, 2017, the current $90 limit on VA pension paid to veterans residing in nursing homes when their nursing costs are paid through title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Increases, for corporations with assets of at least $1 billion, the required estimated income tax payments otherwise due in the third quarter of: (1) 2013 by 0.25%, and (2) 2017 by 0.50%. Requires the next required installment to be appropriately reduced to reflect the amount of this increase.