II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2326 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 22, 2019 Received AN ACT To amend the Social Security Act, to amend the Dignified Burial and Other Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2012, and to direct the Secretaries of Veterans Af- fairs, Defense, Labor, and Homeland Security, and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, to take certain actions to improve transition assistance to members of the Armed Forces who separate, retire, or are discharged from the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2326.RDS H2326 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 2326 RDS Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Navy SEAL Chief 4 Petty Officer William ‘Bill’ Mulder (Ret.) Transition Im- 5 provement Act of 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. TAP DEFINED. 7 In this Act, the term ‘‘TAP’’ means the Transition 8 Assistance Program under sections 1142 and 1144 of title 9 10, United States Code. 10 SEC. 3. ACCESS FOR THE SECRETARIES OF LABOR AND 11 VETERANS AFFAIRS TO THE FEDERAL DIREC- 12 TORY OF NEW HIRES. 13 Section 453A(h) of the Social Security Act (42 14 U.S.C. 653a(h)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 15 lowing new paragraph: 16 ‘‘(4) VETERAN EMPLOYMENT.—The Secretaries 17 of Labor and of Veterans Affairs shall have access 18 to information reported by employers pursuant to 19 subsection (b) of this section for purposes of track- 20 ing employment of veterans.’’. 21 SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM FOR OFF-BASE TRANSITION 22 TRAINING FOR VETERANS AND SPOUSES. 23 (a) EXTENSION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—Subsection 24 (a) of section 301 of the Dignified Burial and Other Vet- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.RDS H2326 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 2326 RDS erans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2012 (Public Law 1 112–260; 10 U.S.C. 1144 note) is amended— 2 (1) by striking ‘‘During the two-year period be- 3 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act’’ 4 and inserting ‘‘During the 5-year period beginning 5 on the date of the enactment of the Navy SEAL 6 Chief Petty Officer William ‘Bill’ Mulder (Ret.) 7 Transition Improvement Act of 2019’’; and 8 (2) by striking ‘‘to assess the feasibility and ad- 9 visability of providing such program to eligible indi- 10 viduals at locations other than military installa- 11 tions’’. 12 (b) LOCATIONS.—Subsection (c) of such section is 13 amended— 14 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘not less than 15 three and not more than five States’’ and inserting 16 ‘‘not fewer than 50 locations in States (as defined 17 in section 101 of title 38, United States Code)’’; and 18 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘at least two’’ 19 and inserting ‘‘at least 20’’. 20 (c) CONFORMING REPEAL.—Subsection (f) of such 21 section is repealed. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.RDS H2326 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 2326 RDS SEC. 5. GRANTS FOR PROVISION OF TRANSITION ASSIST- 1 ANCE TO MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES 2 AFTER SEPARATION, RETIREMENT, OR DIS- 3 CHARGE. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 5 shall make grants to eligible organizations for the provi- 6 sion of transition assistance to members of the Armed 7 Forces who are separated, retired, or discharged from the 8 Armed Forces, and spouses of such members. 9 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—The recipient of a grant under 10 this section shall use the grant to provide to members of 11 the Armed Forces and spouses described in subsection (a) 12 resume assistance, interview training, job recruitment 13 training, and related services leading directly to successful 14 transition, as determined by the Secretary. 15 (c) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.—To be eligible for a 16 grant under this section, an organization shall submit to 17 the Secretary an application containing such information 18 and assurances as the Secretary, in consultation with the 19 Secretary of Labor, may require. 20 (d) PRIORITY FOR HUBS OF SERVICES.—In making 21 grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority 22 to an organization that provides multiple forms of services 23 described in subsection (b). 24 (e) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—A grant under this section 25 shall be in an amount that does not exceed 50 percent 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.RDS H2326 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 2326 RDS of the amount required by the organization to provide the 1 services described in subsection (b). 2 (f) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall carry out this 3 section not later than 6 months after the effective date 4 of this Act. 5 (g) TERMINATION.—The authority to provide a grant 6 under this section shall terminate on the date that is 5 7 years after the date on which the Secretary implements 8 the grant program under this section. 9 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 10 authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 to carry out 11 this section. 12 SEC. 6. ONE-YEAR INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF THE EF- 13 FECTIVENESS OF TAP. 14 (a) INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 90 15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 16 retary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the cov- 17 ered officials, shall enter into an agreement with an appro- 18 priate entity with experience in adult education to carry 19 out a 1-year independent assessment of TAP, including— 20 (1) the effectiveness of TAP for members of 21 each military department during the entire military 22 life cycle; 23 (2) the appropriateness of the TAP career read- 24 iness standards; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.RDS H2326 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 2326 RDS (3) a review of information that is provided to 1 the Department of Veterans Affairs under TAP, in- 2 cluding mental health data; 3 (4) whether TAP effectively addresses the chal- 4 lenges veterans face entering the civilian workforce 5 and in translating experience and skills from mili- 6 tary service to the job market; 7 (5) whether TAP effectively addresses the chal- 8 lenges faced by the families of veterans making the 9 transition to civilian life; 10 (6) appropriate metrics regarding TAP out- 11 comes for members of the Armed Forces 1 year 12 after separation, retirement, or discharge from the 13 Armed Forces; 14 (7) what the Secretary, in consultation with the 15 covered officials and veterans service organizations 16 determine to be successful outcomes for TAP; 17 (8) whether members of the Armed Forces 18 achieve successful outcomes for TAP, as determined 19 under paragraph (7); 20 (9) how the Secretary and the covered officials 21 provide feedback to each other regarding such out- 22 comes; 23 (10) recommendations for the Secretaries of the 24 military departments regarding how to improve out- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.RDS H2326 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 2326 RDS comes for members of the Armed Forces after sepa- 1 ration, retirement, and discharge; and 2 (11) other topics the Secretary and the covered 3 officials determine would aid members of the Armed 4 Forces as they transition to civilian life. 5 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the com- 6 pletion of the independent assessment under subsection 7 (a), the Secretary and the covered officials, shall submit 8 to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 9 House of Representatives and the Committees on Armed 10 Services of the Senate and House of Representatives— 11 (1) the findings and recommendations (includ- 12 ing recommended legislation) of the independent as- 13 sessment prepared by the entity described in sub- 14 section (a); and 15 (2) responses of the Secretary and the covered 16 officials to the findings and recommendations de- 17 scribed in paragraph (1). 18 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 (1) The term ‘‘covered officials’’ is comprised 20 of— 21 (A) the Secretary of Defense; 22 (B) the Secretary of Labor; 23 (C) the Administrator of the Small Busi- 24 ness Administration; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.RDS H2326 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 2326 RDS (D) the Secretaries of the military depart- 1 ments. 2 (2) The term ‘‘military department’’ has the 3 meaning given that term in section 101 of title 10, 4 United States Code. 5 SEC. 7. LONGITUDINAL STUDY ON CHANGES TO TAP. 6 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 90 days after the date 7 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 8 Affairs, in consultation with the Secretaries of Defense 9 and Labor and the Administrator of the Small Business 10 Administration, shall conduct a 5-year longitudinal study 11 regarding TAP on three separate cohorts of members of 12 the Armed Forces who have separated from the Armed 13 Forces, including— 14 (1) a cohort that has attended TAP counseling 15 as implemented on the date of the enactment of this 16 Act; 17 (2) a cohort that attends TAP counseling after 18 the Secretaries of Defense and Labor implement 19 changes recommended in the report under section 20 6(b) of this Act; and 21 (3) a cohort that has not attended TAP coun- 22 seling. 23 (b) PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later than 90 days 24 after the day that is 1 year after the date of the initiation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.RDS H2326 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 HR 2326 RDS of the study under subsection (a) and annually thereafter 1 for the 3 subsequent years, the Secretaries of Veterans 2 Affairs, Defense, and Labor, and the Administrator of the 3 Small Business Administration, shall submit to the Com- 4 mittees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of 5 Representatives and the Committees on Armed Services 6 of the Senate and House of Representatives a progress 7 report of activities under the study during the immediately 8 preceding year. 9 (c) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 10 the completion of the study under subsection (a), the Sec- 11 retaries of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Labor, and the 12 Administrator of the Small Business Administration, shall 13 submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen- 14 ate and House of Representatives and the Committees on 15 Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representa- 16 tives a report of final findings and recommendations based 17 on the study. 18 (d) ELEMENTS.—The final report under subsection 19 (c) shall include information regarding the following: 20 (1) The percentage of each cohort that received 21 unemployment benefits during the study. 22 (2) The numbers of months members of each 23 cohort were employed during the study. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.RDS H2326 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 HR 2326 RDS (3) Annual starting and ending salaries of 1 members of each cohort who were employed during 2 the study. 3 (4) How many members of each cohort enrolled 4 in an institution of higher learning, as that term is 5 defined in section 3452(f) of title 38, United States 6 Code. 7 (5) The academic credit hours, degrees, and 8 certificates obtained by members of each cohort dur- 9 ing the study. 10 (6) The annual income of members of each co- 11 hort. 12 (7) The total household income of members of 13 each cohort. 14 (8) How many members of each cohort own 15 their principal residences. 16 (9) How many dependents that members of 17 each cohort have. 18 (10) The percentage of each cohort that 19 achieves a successful outcome for TAP, as deter- 20 mined under section 6(a)(7) of this Act. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.RDS H2326 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 HR 2326 RDS (11) Other criteria the Secretaries and the Ad- 1 ministrator of the Small Business Administration 2 determine appropriate. 3 Passed the House of Representatives May 21, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.RDS H2326 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS