HERO Transition from Battlespace to Workplace Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 143 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 4, 2021 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 vet- erans, 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H143.IH H143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 143 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Helping to Encourage Real Opportunity for Veterans 3 Transitioning from Battlespace to Workplace Act of 4 2021’’ or the ‘‘HERO Transition from Battlespace to 5 Workplace Act of 2021’’. 6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The majority of men and women 8 transitioning from the Armed Services to the civilian 9 sector have experienced difficulty in making the 10 transition and regard their greatest challenge to be 11 finding a job that is meaningful to them even though 12 nearly 90 percent of them believe they have the gen- 13 eral skills needed to land their ideal job such as 14 problem solving, leadership, ethics, and time man- 15 agement and most believe they possess specific mar- 16 ketable skills, such as information technology, health 17 care, mechanical, and aviation. 18 (2) Among the biggest challenges veterans face 19 in securing suitable employment in the civilian sector 20 are: overcoming the difficulty in translating to em- 21 ployers the value of the skills they learned in the 22 military; competing with candidates who have been 23 in the workforce longer; the perceived reluctance of 24 employers to hire due to concerns about multiple de- 25 ployments or military training and time commit- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H143.IH H143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 143 IH ments of the Reserve Component; and fears of deal- 1 ing with veterans’ disabilities. 2 (3) Studies have shown that more than 80 per- 3 cent of veterans transitioning from military service 4 to the civilian sector regard employer-provided vet- 5 eran support programs as ‘‘critical’’ or ‘‘important’’ 6 to their success and believe it is important for em- 7 ployers to provide flexible leave for the health issues 8 they face. 9 SEC. 2. TAX CREDIT FOR MILITARY RELATIONS MANAGERS. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub- 11 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 12 1986 (relating to business-related credits) is amended by 13 adding at the end the following new section: 14 ‘‘SEC. 45U. MILITARY RELATIONS MANAGER. 15 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—For purposes of sec- 16 tion 38, in the case of an employer, the military relations 17 manager tax credit determined under this section for a 18 taxable year is an amount equal to $1,000 multiplied by 19 the number of veterans— 20 ‘‘(1) who begin work for the employer in the 21 taxable year or preceding taxable year of the em- 22 ployer, and 23 ‘‘(2) with respect to whom a qualified military 24 relations manager is exercising the duties described 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H143.IH H143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 143 IH in section 4303(17)(B) of title 38, United States 1 Code. 2 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 3 ‘‘(1) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF VETERANS PER 4 MILITARY RELATIONS MANAGER.—Not more than 25 5 veterans hired in a taxable year may be taken into 6 account under subsection (a) for each qualified mili- 7 tary relations manager. 8 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM SERVICE WITH EMPLOYER.—A 9 veteran may not be taken into account for purposes 10 of subsection (a) until the veteran has provided con- 11 tinuous service for the employer for the 8-month pe- 12 riod beginning on the day the veteran first begins 13 work with the employer and with respect to whom 14 the qualified military relations manager is exercising 15 the duties described in section 4303(17)(B) of title 16 38, United States Code. 17 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 18 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED MILITARY RELATIONS MAN- 19 AGER.—For purposes of this section, the term 20 ‘qualified military relations manager’ means, with 21 respect to an employer, a military relations manager 22 with the qualities described in section 4303(17)(A) 23 of title 38, United States Code, who has been des- 24 ignated by the taxpayer to participate in the hiring 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H143.IH H143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 143 IH process and who carries out the duties described in 1 section 4303(17)(B) of such Code. 2 ‘‘(2) VETERAN.—The term ‘veteran’ has the 3 meaning given such term by section 101(2) of title 4 38, United States Code. 5 ‘‘(d) AGGREGATION RULE FOR EMPLOYER.—All per- 6 sons treated as a single employer for purposes of sub- 7 section (a) or (b) of section 52 shall be treated as one 8 person for purposes of this section. 9 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 10 such regulations or other guidance as the Secretary deter- 11 mines necessary or appropriate to carry out this section.’’. 12 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS 13 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code is 14 amended— 15 (1) by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph 16 (32), 17 (2) by striking the period at the end of para- 18 graph (33) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and 19 (3) by adding at the end the following new 20 paragraph: 21 ‘‘(34) the military relations manager tax credit 22 determined under section 45U(a).’’. 23 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 24 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H143.IH H143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 143 IH of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol- 1 lowing new item: 2 ‘‘Sec. 45U. Military Relations Manager.’’. (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 3 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 4 the date of the enactment of this Act. 5 SEC. 3. HIRING OF VETERANS. 6 (a) IMPROVEMENTS TO USERRA.— 7 (1) REASONABLE EFFORTS OF EMPLOYER.— 8 Section 4303 of title 38, United States Code, is 9 amended— 10 (A) in paragraph (10), by inserting before 11 the period at the end the following: ‘‘, and may 12 include designating an employee as a military 13 relations manager and using the military skills 14 translator database’’; and 15 (B) by adding at the end the following new 16 paragraphs: 17 ‘‘(17) The term ‘military relations manager’ 18 means an individual employed by an employer— 19 ‘‘(A) who is an expert in— 20 ‘‘(i) the process of transitioning from 21 being a member of the Armed Forces to 22 being a civilian; and 23 ‘‘(ii) translating the skills, experience, 24 and training gained in the Armed Forces 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H143.IH H143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 143 IH to skills, experience, and training needed in 1 the private sector; and 2 ‘‘(B) whose duties include— 3 ‘‘(i) acting as a liaison between the 4 employer and individuals covered under 5 this chapter; 6 ‘‘(ii) assisting the human resources 7 personnel of the employer in evaluating in- 8 dividuals covered under this chapter seek- 9 ing employment with the employer, includ- 10 ing by using the military skills translator 11 database; and 12 ‘‘(iii) serving as a mentor to individ- 13 uals covered under this chapter who are 14 employees of the employer. 15 ‘‘(18) The term ‘military skills translator data- 16 base’ means the database that the Secretary of Vet- 17 erans Affairs maintains on a public Internet website 18 to assist veterans, explain how skills, experience, and 19 training gained in the Armed Forces relates to civil- 20 ian skills, experiences, and training.’’. 21 (2) COMPLIANCE.—Section 4322(d) of title 38, 22 United States Code, is amended by adding after the 23 period at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘Such 24 compliance may include the employer designating an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H143.IH H143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 143 IH employee to act as a military relations manager and 1 using the military skills translator database main- 2 tained by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs when as- 3 sessing a person for initial employment.’’. 4 (b) MILITARY SKILLS TRANSLATOR DATABASE.— 5 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— 6 (1) ensure that the military skills translator 7 database (as defined by section 4303(18) of title 38, 8 United States Code, as added by subsection 9 (a)(1)(B)) may be used by civilian employers to bet- 10 ter understand the skills, experience, and training of 11 a veteran who seeks employment with the employer; 12 and 13 (2) conduct outreach to inform civilian employ- 14 ers of such database. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H143.IH H143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS