II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3899 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a retraining assistance program for unemployed veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 4, 2020 Mr. MORAN (for himself, Mr. TESTER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. CRAMER, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a retraining assistance program for unemployed 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Economic 4 Recovery Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. COVID–19 VETERAN RAPID RETRAINING ASSIST- 6 ANCE PROGRAM. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 8 shall carry out a program under which the Secretary shall 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:03 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3899.IS S3899 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3899 IS provide up to 12 months of retraining assistance to eligible 1 veterans for the pursuit of covered programs of education. 2 (b) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section, 4 an eligible veteran is a veteran who— 5 (A) as of the date of the submittal by the 6 veteran of an application for assistance under 7 this section— 8 (i) is at least 25 years of age but not 9 more than 60 years of age; 10 (ii) is unemployed by reason of a cov- 11 ered public health emergency, as certified 12 by the veteran; and 13 (iii) is not eligible to receive edu- 14 cational assistance under chapter 30, 31, 15 32, 33, or 35 of title 38, United States 16 Code, or chapter 1606 or 1607 of title 10, 17 United States Code; 18 (B) is not enrolled in any Federal or State 19 jobs program; 20 (C) is not in receipt of compensation for a 21 service-connected disability rated totally dis- 22 abling by reason of unemployability; and 23 (D) will not be in receipt of unemployment 24 compensation (as defined in section 85(b) of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:03 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3899.IS S3899 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3899 IS Internal Revenue Code of 1986), including any 1 cash benefit received pursuant to subtitle A of 2 title II of division A of the CARES Act (Public 3 Law 116–136), as of the first day on which the 4 veteran would pursue a covered program of 5 education using retraining assistance under this 6 section. 7 (2) TREATMENT OF VETERANS WHO TRANSFER 8 ENTITLEMENT.—For purposes of paragraph 9 (1)(A)(iii), a veteran who has transferred all of the 10 veteran’s entitlement to educational assistance under 11 section 3319 of title 38, United States Code, shall 12 be considered to be a veteran who is not eligible to 13 receive educational assistance under chapter 33 of 14 such title. 15 (3) FAILURE TO COMPLETE.—Any veteran who 16 receives retraining assistance under this section to 17 pursue a covered program of education and who fails 18 to complete the program of education shall not be el- 19 igible to receive additional assistance under this sec- 20 tion. 21 (c) COVERED PROGRAMS OF EDUCATION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section, 23 a covered program of education is a program of edu- 24 cation (as such term is defined in section 3452(b) of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:03 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3899.IS S3899 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3899 IS title 38, United States Code) for training, pursued 1 by the veteran on a full-time or part-time basis— 2 (A)(i) that is approved under chapter 36 of 3 title 38, United States Code; 4 (ii) with respect to which a show cause 5 order has not been issued by a State approving 6 agency under such chapter during the five-year 7 period preceding the date on which an eligible 8 veteran begins to pursue such program; 9 (iii) that does not lead to a bachelors or 10 graduate degree; and 11 (iv) that is designed to provide training for 12 a high-demand occupation, as determined under 13 paragraph (2); or 14 (B) is a high technology program of edu- 15 cation offered by a qualified provider, under the 16 meaning of such terms in section 116 of the 17 Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational As- 18 sistance Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–48; 38 19 U.S.C. 3001 note). 20 (2) DETERMINATION OF HIGH-DEMAND OCCU- 21 PATIONS.— 22 (A) INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION.—In car- 23 rying out this section, to determine whether a 24 covered program of education is designed to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:03 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3899.IS S3899 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3899 IS provide training for high-demand occupations, 1 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall use the 2 list of high-demand occupations compiled by the 3 Commissioner of Labor Statistics until the final 4 list is issued under subparagraph (C). 5 (B) STUDY REQUIRED.— 6 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 7 enter into an agreement with a federally 8 funded research and development corpora- 9 tion or another appropriate entity outside 10 of the Department of Veterans Affairs for 11 the conduct of a study to determine which 12 occupations are high-demand occupations. 13 (ii) DEADLINE.—The study described 14 in clause (i) shall be completed not later 15 than 30 days after the date of the enact- 16 ment of this Act. 17 (C) FINAL LIST.—The Secretary— 18 (i) may add or remove one or more 19 occupations from the list in use pursuant 20 to subparagraph (A) during the 60-day pe- 21 riod following the completion of the study 22 required by subparagraph (B); 23 (ii) shall issue a final list of high-de- 24 mand occupations for use under this sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:03 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3899.IS S3899 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3899 IS tion by not later than 60 days after the 1 date of the completion of the study; and 2 (iii) shall make such final list publicly 3 available on a website of the Department. 4 (D) USE OF LIST.—The Secretary shall 5 use the final list issued under subparagraph (C) 6 to determine whether a program of education is 7 designed to provide training for high-demand 8 occupations. 9 (E) REMOVAL OF OCCUPATIONS.—The 10 Secretary may remove occupations from the 11 final list issued under subparagraph (C) as the 12 Secretary determines appropriate. 13 (d) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.— 14 (1) RETRAINING ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 15 of Veterans Affairs shall provide to an eligible vet- 16 eran pursuing a covered program of education under 17 the retraining assistance program under this section 18 an amount equal to the amount of educational as- 19 sistance payable under section 3313(c)(1)(A) of title 20 38, United States Code. 21 (2) PAYMENTS.—Amounts described in para- 22 graph (1) shall be payable directly to the educational 23 institution offering the covered program of education 24 pursued by the veteran as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:03 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3899.IS S3899 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3899 IS (A) 50 percent of the total amount payable 1 shall be paid on the date on which the eligible 2 veteran begins the covered program of edu- 3 cation. 4 (B) 25 percent of the total amount payable 5 shall be paid on the date on which the eligible 6 veteran completes the covered program of edu- 7 cation. 8 (C) 25 percent of the total amount payable 9 shall be paid on the date on which the eligible 10 veteran finds employment in a field related to 11 the covered program of education. 12 (3) FAILURE TO COMPLETE.—In the case of an 13 eligible veteran who pursues a covered program of 14 education under the retraining assistance program 15 under this section, but who does not complete the 16 program of education, the Secretary shall pay to the 17 educational institution offering such program of edu- 18 cation a pro-rated amount based on the number of 19 months the veteran pursued the program of edu- 20 cation— 21 (A) under paragraph (2)(B), which shall 22 be payable on the date on which the veteran 23 provides notice to the educational institution 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:03 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3899.IS S3899 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3899 IS that the veteran no longer intends to pursue the 1 program of education; and 2 (B) under paragraph (2)(C), which shall 3 by payable only if the veteran finds employment 4 in a field related to the program of education 5 during the 180-day period beginning on the 6 date on which the veteran withdraws from the 7 program of education. 8 (4) HOUSING STIPEND.—For each month that 9 an eligible veteran pursues a covered program of 10 education under the retraining assistance program 11 under this section, the Secretary shall pay to the 12 veteran a monthly housing stipend in an amount 13 equal to— 14 (A) in the case of a covered program of 15 education at an institution of higher learning 16 (as that term is defined in section 3452(f) of 17 title 38, United States Code) pursued on more 18 than a half-time basis, the amount specified 19 under subsection (c)(1)(B) of section 3313 of 20 title 38, United States Code; 21 (B) in the case of a covered program of 22 education at an institution other than an insti- 23 tution of higher learning pursued on more than 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:03 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3899.IS S3899 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3899 IS a half-time basis, the amount specified under 1 subsection (g)(3)(A)(ii) of such section; 2 (C) in the case of a covered program of 3 education pursued on less than a half-time 4 basis, the amount specified under subsection 5 (f)(2)(A)(ii) of such section; or 6 (D) in the case of a covered program of 7 education pursued solely through distance 8 learning on more than a half-time basis, the 9 amount specified under subsection (c)(1)(B)(iii) 10 of such section. 11 (5) FAILURE TO FIND EMPLOYMENT.—The 12 Secretary shall not make a payment under para- 13 graph (2)(C) with respect to an eligible veteran who 14 completes or fails to completes a covered program of 15 education under the retraining assistance program 16 under this section if the veteran fails to find employ- 17 ment in a field related to the program of education 18 within the 180-period beginning on the date on 19 which the veteran withdraws from or completes the 20 program. 21 (e) USE OF ASSISTANCE.—Each eligible veteran who 22 receives retraining assistance under this section may use 23 such assistance only to pursue a covered program of edu- 24 cation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:03 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3899.IS S3899 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3899 IS (f) RELATION TO OTHER EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 1 AND BENEFITS.—Retraining assistance provided under 2 this section shall be in addition to any other entitlement 3 to educational assistance or benefits for which an eligible 4 veteran is, or has been, eligible 5 (g) NO TRANSFERABILITY.—Retraining assistance 6 provided under this section may not be transferred to an- 7 other individual. 8 (h) EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall 10 contact each eligible veteran who pursues a covered 11 program of education under this section— 12 (A) not later than 30 days after the date 13 on which the veteran begins the program of 14 education to notify the veteran of the avail- 15 ability of employment placement services upon 16 completion of the program; and 17 (B) not later than 14 days after the date 18 on which the veteran completes, or terminates 19 participation in, such program to facilitate the 20 provision of employment placement services to 21 such veteran. 22 (2) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec- 23 retary of Veterans Affairs shall provide to the Sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:03 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3899.IS S3899 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3899 IS retary of Labor such information as may be nec- 1 essary to carry out paragraph (1). 2 (i) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 4 Affairs may enter into a memorandum of under- 5 standing with one or more qualified nonprofit orga- 6 nizations for the purpose of facilitating the employ- 7 ment of eligible veterans who participate in the re- 8 training assistance program under this section. 9 (2) QUALIFIED NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.— 10 For purposes of this subsection, a qualified non- 11 profit organization is a nonprofit organization 12 that— 13 (A) is an association of businesses; and 14 (B) has at least two years of experience 15 providing job placement services for veterans. 16 (j) FOLLOW UP OUTREACH.—The Secretary of Vet- 17 erans Affairs, in coordination with the Secretary of Labor, 18 shall contact each veteran who completes a covered pro- 19 gram of education under the retraining assistance pro- 20 gram under this section 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, and 21 180 days after the veteran completes such program of edu- 22 cation to ask the veteran about— 23 (1) the experience of the veteran in the retrain- 24 ing assistance program; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:03 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3899.IS S3899 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3899 IS (2) the veteran’s employment status. 1 (k) TIME FRAME FOR PARTICIPATION.—An eligible 2 veteran who participates in the retraining assistance pro- 3 gram under this section shall— 4 (1) begin a program of education by not later 5 than 150 days after the date of the enactment of 6 this Act; and 7 (2) complete such program of education by not 8 later than 17 months after the date of the enact- 9 ment of this Act. 10 (l) LIMITATION.—Not more than 35,000 eligible vet- 11 erans may receive retraining assistance under this section. 12 (m) TERMINATION.—No retraining assistance may 13 be paid under this section after the date that is 17 months 14 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 15 (n) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 16 the termination of the retraining assistance program 17 under subsection (m), the Comptroller General of the 18 United States shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ 19 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Af- 20 fairs of the House of Representatives a report on the out [Text truncated for display. 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