Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4824 To reauthorize the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, to provide assistance to small businesses owned by veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 23, 2019 Mr. COHEN (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. NORTON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Ms. MOORE) introduced the following bill; which was 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 A BILL To reauthorize the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, to provide assistance to small businesses owned by 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2019’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:27 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4824.IH H4824 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4824 IH Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—RENEWING OUR VOW TO HIRE HEROES Sec. 101. Reauthorization of veterans retraining assistance program. Sec. 102. Extension of additional rehabilitation programs for persons who have exhausted rights to unemployment benefits under State law. Sec. 103. Reauthorization of collaborative veterans’ training, mentoring, and placement program. TITLE II—BUILDING ON OUR VOW TO HIRE HEROES Sec. 201. Unified employment portal for veterans. Sec. 202. Grants to hire veterans as first responders. Sec. 203. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans. TITLE I—RENEWING OUR VOW 1 TO HIRE HEROES 2 SEC. 101. REAUTHORIZATION OF VETERANS RETRAINING 3 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 4 (a) EXTENSION.—Subsection (k) of section 211 of 5 the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 (Public Law 112– 6 56; 38 U.S.C. 4100 note) is amended by striking ‘‘March 7 31, 2014’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2021’’. 8 (b) NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE VETERANS.—Subsection 9 (a)(2) of such section is amended— 10 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 11 the end; 12 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 13 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 14 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub- 15 paragraphs: 16 ‘‘(C) 50,000 during fiscal year 2020; 17 ‘‘(D) 50,000 during fiscal year 2021; 18 ‘‘(E) 50,000 during fiscal year 2022; and 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:27 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4824.IH H4824 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4824 IH ‘‘(F) 50,000 during the period beginning 1 October 1, 2022, and ending December 31, 2 2023.’’. 3 (c) CLARIFICATION OF LIMITATION ON AGGREGATE 4 AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—Subsection (b) of such section 5 is amended by striking ‘‘up to 12 months of retraining 6 assistance provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘an aggregate of not more than 12 months 8 of retraining assistance provided by the Secretary of Vet- 9 erans Affairs under this section’’. 10 (d) UPDATED REPORT.—Subsection (i) of such sec- 11 tion is amended by adding at the end the following new 12 paragraph: 13 ‘‘(3) UPDATE.—Not later than December 31, 14 2022, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in collabo- 15 ration with the Secretary of Labor, shall submit to 16 the appropriate committees of Congress an update 17 to the report described in paragraph (1).’’. 18 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection 19 (e)(1)(G) of such section is amended by striking ‘‘by not 20 later than October 1, 2013,’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:27 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4824.IH H4824 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4824 IH SEC. 102. EXTENSION OF ADDITIONAL REHABILITATION 1 PROGRAMS FOR PERSONS WHO HAVE EX- 2 HAUSTED RIGHTS TO UNEMPLOYMENT BENE- 3 FITS UNDER STATE LAW. 4 Section 3102(b)(4) of title 38, United States Code, 5 is amended by striking ‘‘March 31, 2014’’ and inserting 6 ‘‘March 31, 2022’’. 7 SEC. 103. REAUTHORIZATION OF COLLABORATIVE VET- 8 ERANS’ TRAINING, MENTORING, AND PLACE- 9 MENT PROGRAM. 10 Subsection (e) of section 4104A of title 38, United 11 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 12 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 13 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 14 amounts as follows: 15 ‘‘(1) $4,500,000 for the period consisting of fis- 16 cal years 2020 and 2021. 17 ‘‘(2) $4,500,000 for the period consisting of fis- 18 cal years 2022 and 2023.’’. 19 TITLE II—BUILDING ON OUR 20 VOW TO HIRE HEROES 21 SEC. 201. UNIFIED EMPLOYMENT PORTAL FOR VETERANS. 22 Section 4105 of title 38, United States Code, is 23 amended by adding at the end the following: 24 ‘‘(c)(1) The Secretary shall develop a single, unified 25 Federal web-based employment portal, for use by veterans, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:27 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4824.IH H4824 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4824 IH containing information regarding all Federal programs 1 and activities concerning employment, unemployment, and 2 training to the extent the programs and activities affect 3 veterans. 4 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall work with representatives 5 from the Department of Defense, the Department of Vet- 6 erans Affairs, the Small Business Administration, and 7 other Federal agencies and organizations concerned with 8 veterans’ issues, to determine an appropriate platform and 9 implementing agency for the portal. The Secretary shall 10 enter into an agreement with the other Federal agencies 11 for the implementation of the portal.’’. 12 SEC. 202. GRANTS TO HIRE VETERANS AS FIRST RESPOND- 13 ERS. 14 (a) GRANTS FOR FIREFIGHTERS.—The Secretary of 15 Homeland Security shall award grants under section 34 16 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 17 (15 U.S.C. 2229a) to hire veterans as firefighters. 18 (b) GRANTS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.— 19 The Attorney General shall award grants under part Q 20 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 21 Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.) to hire veterans 22 as law enforcement officers. 23 (c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec- 24 tion to hire veterans, the Secretary of Homeland Security 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:27 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4824.IH H4824 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4824 IH and the Attorney General shall give priority to the hiring 1 of veterans who served on active duty in the Armed Forces 2 on or after September 11, 2001. 3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 4 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 5 $250,000,000. 6 SEC. 203. CONTRACTING PREFERENCE FOR OFFERORS EM- 7 PLOYING VETERANS. 8 (a) CIVILIAN CONTRACTS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 33 of title 41, 10 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 11 end the following new section: 12 ‘‘§ 3313. Contracting preference for offerors employ- 13 ing veterans 14 ‘‘(a) PREFERENCE.—With respect to the procure- 15 ment of goods and services using competitive procedures 16 by executive agencies, where such procurement is valued 17 at $25,000,000 or higher, the Administrator shall estab- 18 lish a preference, and criteria for applying such pref- 19 erence, for a covered offeror. 20 ‘‘(b) CONGRESSIONAL REPORT.—Prior to estab- 21 lishing the preference described in subsection (a), the Ad- 22 ministrator shall provide a report to Congress that in- 23 cludes— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:27 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4824.IH H4824 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4824 IH ‘‘(1) a plan for implementing such preference, 1 including penalties for an offeror that willfully and 2 intentionally misrepresents the veteran status of the 3 employees of the offeror in a bid submitted under 4 subsection (a); and 5 ‘‘(2) the process for assessing and verifying of- 6 feror compliance with regulations relating to equal 7 opportunity for veterans requirements. 8 ‘‘(c) COVERED OFFEROR DEFINED.—In this section, 9 the term ‘covered offeror’ means an offeror for which 5 10 percent of the full-time employees of such offeror are vet- 11 erans.’’. 12 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 13 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 14 by adding after the item relating to section 3312 the 15 following new item: 16 ‘‘3313. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans.’’. (b) DEFENSE CONTRACTS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 137 of title 10, 18 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 19 end the following new section: 20 ‘‘§ 2339b. Contracting preference for offerors employ- 21 ing veterans 22 ‘‘(a) PREFERENCE.—With respect to the procure- 23 ment of goods and services using competitive procedures 24 by executive agencies, where such procurement is valued 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:27 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4824.IH H4824 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4824 IH at $25,000,000 or higher, the Administrator shall estab- 1 lish a preference, and criteria for applying such pref- 2 erence, for a covered offeror. 3 ‘‘(b) CONGRESSIONAL REPORT.—Prior to estab- 4 lishing the preference described in subsection (a), the Sec- 5 retary of Defense shall provide a report to Congress that 6 includes— 7 ‘‘(1) a plan for implementing such preference, 8 including penalties for an offeror that willfully and 9 intentionally misrepresents the veteran status of the 10 employees of the offeror in a bid submitted under 11 subsection (a); and 12 ‘‘(2) the process for assessing and verifying of- 13 feror compliance with regulations relating to equal 14 opportunity for veterans requirements. 15 ‘‘(c) COVERED OFFEROR DEFINED.—In this section, 16 the term ‘covered offeror’ means an offeror for which 5 17 percent of the full-time employees of such offeror are vet- 18 erans.’’. 19 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 20 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 21 by adding after the item relating to section 2339a 22 the following new item: 23 ‘‘2339b. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:27 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H4824.IH H4824 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4824 IH (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub- 1 sections (a) and (b) shall apply to contracts entered into 2 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 3 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisi- 5 tion Regulation shall be amended to carry out the require- 6 ments of section 3313 of title 41, United States Code, and 7 section 2339b of title 10, United States Code, as added 8 by subsections (a) and (b), respectively. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:27 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4824.IH H4824 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS