[House Report 107-476]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 107-476
======================================================================
JOBS FOR VETERANS ACT
_______
May 20, 2002.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Smith of New Jersey, from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 4015]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 4015) to amend title 38, United States Code, to
revise and improve employment, training, and placement services
furnished to veterans, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an
amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES TO TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE;
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Jobs for Veterans
Act''.
(b) References to Title 38, United States Code.--Except as otherwise
expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is
expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other
provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or
other provision of title 38, United States Code.
(c) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; references to title 38, United States Code.
Sec. 2. Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor job
training programs.
Sec. 3. Performance incentive awards for quality veterans employment,
training, and placement services.
Sec. 4. Refinement of job training and placement functions of the
Department.
Sec. 5. Additional improvements in veterans employment and training
services.
Sec. 6. Committee to raise employer awareness of skills of veterans and
benefits of hiring veterans.
Sec. 7. Sense of Congress commending veterans and military service
organizations.
Sec. 8. Study on economic benefits to the United States of long-term
sustained employment of veterans.
SEC. 2. PRIORITY OF SERVICE FOR VETERANS IN DEPARTMENT OF LABOR JOB
TRAINING PROGRAMS.
(a) Veterans' Job Training Assistance.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 42 is amended by adding at the end
the following new section:
``Sec. 4215. Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor
job training programs
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) The term `covered person' means any of the following
individuals:
``(A) A veteran.
``(B) The spouse of any of the following individuals:
``(i) Any veteran who died of a service-
connected disability.
``(ii) Any member of the Armed Forces serving
on active duty who, at the time of application
for assistance under this section, is listed,
pursuant to section 556 of title 37 and
regulations issued thereunder, by the Secretary
concerned in one or more of the following
categories and has been so listed for a total
of more than 90 days: (I) missing in action,
(II) captured in line of duty by a hostile
force, or (III) forcibly detained or interned
in line of duty by a foreign government or
power.
``(iii) Any veteran who has a total
disability resulting from a service-connected
disability.
``(iv) Any veteran who died while a
disability so evaluated was in existence.
``(2) The term `qualified job training program' means any
workforce preparation, development, or delivery program or
service that is directly funded, in whole or in part, by the
Department of Labor and includes the following:
``(A) Any such program or service that uses
technology to assist individuals to access workforce
development programs (such as job and training
opportunities, labor market information, career
assessment tools, and related support services).
``(B) Any such program or service under the public
employment service system, one-stop career centers, the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998, a demonstration or
other temporary program, and those programs implemented
by States or local service providers based on Federal
block grants administered by the Department of Labor.
``(C) Any such program or service that is a workforce
development program targeted to specific groups.
``(3) The term `priority of service' means, with respect to
any qualified job training program, that a covered person shall
be given priority over nonveterans for the receipt of
employment, training, and placement services provided under
that program, notwithstanding any other provision of law.
``(b) Entitlement to Priority of Service.--(1) A covered person is
entitled to priority of service under any qualified job training
program if the person otherwise meets the eligibility requirements for
participation in such program.
``(2) The Secretary of Labor may establish priorities among covered
persons for purposes of this section to take into account the needs of
disabled veterans and special disabled veterans, and such other factors
as the Secretary determines appropriate.
``(c) Administration of Programs at State and Local Levels.--An
entity of a State or a political subdivision of the State that
administers or delivers services under a qualified job training program
shall--
``(1) provide information and priority of service to covered
persons regarding benefits and services that may be obtained
through other entities or service providers; and
``(2) ensure that each covered person who applies to or who
is assisted by such a program is informed of the employment-
related rights and benefits to which the person is entitled
under this section.
``(d) Addition to Annual Report.--In the annual report required under
section 4107(c) of this title for the program year beginning in 2002
and each subsequent program year, the Secretary of Labor shall evaluate
whether covered persons are receiving priority of service and are being
fully served by qualified job training programs, and whether the levels
of service of such programs are in proportion to the incidence of
representation of veterans in the labor market, including within groups
that the Secretary may designate for priority under such programs, if
any.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 42 is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 4214 the following new item:
``4215. Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor job
training programs.''.
(b) Employment of Veterans With Respect to Federal Contracts.--
(1) In general.--Section 4212(a) is amended to read as
follows:
``(a)(1) Any contract in the amount of $100,000 or more entered into
by any department or agency of the United States for the procurement of
personal property and nonpersonal services (including construction) for
the United States, shall contain a provision requiring that the party
contracting with the United States take affirmative action to employ
and advance in employment qualified covered veterans. This section
applies to any subcontract entered into by a prime contractor in
carrying out any such contract.
``(2) In addition to requiring affirmative action to employ such
qualified covered veterans under such contracts and subcontracts and in
order to promote the implementation of such requirement, the Secretary
of Labor shall prescribe regulations requiring that--
``(A) each such contractor for each such contract shall
immediately list all of its employment openings with the
appropriate employment service delivery system (as defined in
section 4101(7) of this title), and may also list such openings
with one-stop career centers under the Workforce Investment Act
of 1998, other appropriate service delivery points, or
America's Job Bank (or any additional or subsequent national
electronic job bank established by the Department of Labor),
except that the contractor may exclude openings for executive
and senior management positions and positions which are to be
filled from within the contractor's organization and positions
lasting three days or less;
``(B) each such employment service delivery system shall give
such qualified covered veterans priority in referral to such
employment openings; and
``(C) each such employment service delivery system shall
provide a list of such employment openings to States, political
subdivisions of States, or any private entities or
organizations under contract to carry out employment, training,
and placement services under chapter 41 of this title.
``(3) In this section:
``(A) The term `covered veteran' means any of the following
veterans:
``(i) Disabled veterans.
``(ii) Veterans who served on active duty in the
Armed Forces during a war or in a campaign or
expedition for which a campaign badge has been
authorized.
``(iii) Veterans who, while serving on active duty in
the Armed Forces, participated in a United States
military operation for which an Armed Forces service
medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985 (61
Fed. Reg. 1209).
``(iv) Recently separated veterans.
``(B) The term `qualified', with respect to an employment
position, means having the ability to perform the essential
functions of the position with or without reasonable
accommodation for an individual with a disability.''.
(2) Conforming and technical amendments.--(A) Section 4212(c)
is amended--
(i) by striking ``suitable''; and
(ii) by striking ``subsection (a)(2) of this
section'' and inserting ``subsection (a)(2)(B)''.
(B) Section 4212(d)(1) is amended--
(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by
striking ``of this section'' after ``subsection (a)'';
and
(ii) by amending subparagraphs (A) and (B) to read as
follows:
``(A) the number of employees in the workforce of such
contractor, by job category and hiring location, and the number
of such employees, by job category and hiring location, who are
qualified covered veterans;
``(B) the total number of new employees hired by the
contractor during the period covered by the report and the
number of such employees who are qualified covered veterans;
and''.
(C) Section 4212(d)(2) is amended by striking ``of this
subsection'' after ``paragraph (1)''.
(D) Section 4211(6) is amended by striking ``one-year
period'' and inserting ``three-year period''.
(3) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection
shall apply with respect to contracts entered into on or after
the first day of the first month that begins 12 months after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Employment Within the Federal Government.--
(1) Purpose.--The second sentence of section 4214(a)(1) is
amended--
(A) by inserting ``, competent'' after ``effective'';
and
(B) by striking ``major'' and inserting ``uniquely
qualified''.
(2) Appointments.--Section 4214(b) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``readjustment''
and inserting ``recruitment'';
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``to--'' and all
that follows through the period at the end and inserting
``to qualified covered veterans.'';
(C) in paragraph (3)--
(i) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B);
(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and
(D) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively,
(iii) in subparagraph (B), as so
redesignated, by striking ``The limitations of
subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph''
and inserting ``The limitation of subparagraph
(A)'';
(iv) in subparagraph (C), as so redesignated,
by striking ``clause (i) of subparagraphs (A)
and (B) of this paragraph'' and inserting
``subparagraph (A)''; and
(v) by inserting before subparagraph (B), as
so redesignated, the following new
subparagraph:
``(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a qualified covered
veteran may receive such an appointment only within the 10-year period
that begins on the date of the veteran's last discharge or release from
active duty.''.
(3) Technical amendments.--(A) Section 4214(a) is amended--
(i) in the third sentence of paragraph (1), by
striking ``disabled veterans and certain veterans of
the Vietnam era and of the post-Vietnam era'' and
inserting ``qualified covered veterans (as defined in
paragraph (2)(B))''; and
(ii) in paragraph (2), to read as follows:
``(2) In this section:
``(A) The term `agency' has the meaning given the term
`department or agency' in section 4211(5) of this title.
``(B) The term `qualified covered veteran' means a veteran
described in section 4212(a)(3) of this title.''.
(B) Clause (i) of section 4214(e)(2)(B) is amended by
striking ``of the Vietnam era''.
(C) Section 4214(g) is amended by striking ``qualified'' the
first place it occurs and all that follows through ``era'' the
first place it occurs and inserting ``qualified covered
veterans''.
SEC. 3. PERFORMANCE INCENTIVE AWARDS FOR QUALITY VETERANS EMPLOYMENT,
TRAINING, AND PLACEMENT SERVICES.
(a) Performance Incentive Awards for Quality Employment, Training,
and Placement Services.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 41 is amended by adding at the end
the following new section:
``Sec. 4112. Performance incentive awards for quality employment,
training, and placement services
``(a) Program of Performance Incentive Awards.--(1) The Secretary
shall carry out a program, consistent with the provisions of this
section, of performance incentive awards to States to encourage the
improvement and modernization of employment, training, and placement
services provided under this chapter. The Secretary shall carry out the
program through the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training.
``(2) The Secretary shall make performance incentive awards for each
program year, beginning with the program year that begins in fiscal
year 2004, with respect to services provided under this chapter during
the preceding program year.
``(b) Criteria for Eligibility for Awards.--The Secretary shall
establish criteria for eligibility for performance incentive awards for
purposes of this section in consultation with representatives of
States, political subdivisions of States, and other providers of
employment, training, and placement services under the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998 consistent with the performance measures
established under section 4102A(b)(7) of this title.
``(c) Determination of Amount of Award.--(1) The Secretary shall
determine the amount of performance incentive awards in a State under
this section by measuring the performance of the State in providing
employment, training, and placement services furnished veterans and
eligible persons in each State through employment service delivery
systems, through disabled veterans' outreach program specialists, and
through local veterans' employment representatives during the previous
program year based on the measures of performance established under
section 4102A(b)(7) of this title.
``(2) In determining the amount of awards under paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall--
``(A) provide greater amounts to those States which the
Secretary determines furnished, during the preceding fiscal
year, the highest quality employment, training, and placement
services based on measures of performance;
``(B) provide awards to those States that have made
significant improvements in the delivery of such services, as
determined by the Secretary, but do not meet the criteria under
subparagraph (A); and
``(C) consider the applicable annual unemployment data for
the State and other factors, such as prevailing economic
conditions, that affect performance of individuals providing
employment, training, and placement services in the State.
``(d) Use of Award.--Amounts received by a State under this section
may be used--
``(1) to hire additional State veterans employment and
training staff; or
``(2) for such other purposes related to the provision of
employment, placement, and training services as the Secretary
may approve for such services furnished under this chapter to
veterans and eligible persons.
``(e) Relationship of Award to Grant Amounts or Other Compensation.--
A performance incentive award under this section is in addition to
amounts made available to a State under section 4102A(b)(5) of this
title.
``(f) Availability for Obligation.--Amounts received in a performance
incentive award under this section may be obligated by the State during
the program year in which the award was received and the subsequent
program year.
``(g) Appropriations.--The Secretary shall carry out the program
under this section from amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization under section 4106(b)(2) of this title. Such amounts
shall only be available to carry out the program under this section.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 41 is amended by adding at the end the
following new item:
``4112. Performance incentive awards for quality employment, training,
and placement services.''.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 4106(b) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(b)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) In addition to amounts authorized to be appropriated under
paragraph (1), there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary
to carry out the program of performance incentive awards under section
4112 of this title the following:
``(A) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 2004,
$10,000,000.
``(B) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 2005,
$25,000,000.
``(C) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 2006,
$50,000,000.
``(D) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 2007,
$75,000,000.
``(E) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 2008,
$100,000,000.
``(F) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 2009
and each subsequent fiscal year, such sums as are necessary.''.
SEC. 4. REFINEMENT OF JOB TRAINING AND PLACEMENT FUNCTIONS OF THE
DEPARTMENT.
(a) Revision of Department Level Senior Officials and Functions.--
(1) In general.--Sections 4102A and 4103 are amended to read
as follows:
``Sec. 4102A. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training; program functions; Regional
Administrators
``(a) Establishment of Position of Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Veterans' Employment and Training.--(1) There is established within the
Department of Labor an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training, appointed by the President by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, who shall formulate and implement all
departmental policies and procedures to carry out (A) the purposes of
this chapter, chapter 42, and chapter 43 of this title, and (B) all
other Department of Labor employment, unemployment, and training
programs to the extent they affect veterans. The Assistant Secretary of
Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training shall be a veteran.
``(2) The employees of the Department of Labor administering chapter
43 of this title shall be administratively and functionally responsible
to the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training.
``(3)(A) There shall be within the Department of Labor a Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training. The
Deputy Assistant Secretary shall perform such functions as the
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training
prescribes. The Deputy Assistant Secretary shall be a veteran.
``(B) No individual may be appointed as a Deputy Assistant Secretary
of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training unless the individual
has at least five years of continuous service in the Federal civil
service in the executive branch immediately preceding appointment as
the Deputy Assistant Secretary. For purposes of determining such
continuous service of an individual, there shall be excluded any
service by the individual in a position--
``(i) of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making,
or policy-advocating character;
``(ii) in which the individual served as a noncareer
appointee in the Senior Executive Service, as such term is
defined in section 3132(a)(7) of title 5; or
``(iii) to which the individual was appointed by the
President.
``(b) Program Functions.--The Secretary shall carry out the following
functions:
``(1) Except as expressly provided otherwise, carry out all
provisions of this chapter and chapter 43 of this title through
the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training and administer through such Assistant Secretary all
programs under the jurisdiction of the Secretary for the
provision of employment and training services designed to meet
the needs of all veterans and persons eligible for services
furnished under this chapter.
``(2) In order to make maximum use of available resources in
meeting such needs, encourage all such programs, and all
grantees and contractors under such programs to enter into
cooperative arrangements with private industry and business
concerns (including small business concerns owned by veterans
or disabled veterans), educational institutions, trade
associations, and labor unions.
``(3) Ensure that maximum effectiveness and efficiency are
achieved in providing services and assistance to eligible
veterans under all such programs by coordinating and consulting
with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with respect to (A)
programs conducted under other provisions of this title, with
particular emphasis on coordination of such programs with
readjustment counseling activities carried out under section
1712A of this title, apprenticeship or other on-the-job
training programs carried out under section 3687 of this title,
and rehabilitation and training activities carried out under
chapter 31 of this title and (B) determinations covering
veteran population in a State.
``(4) Ensure that employment, training, and placement
activities are carried out in coordination and cooperation with
appropriate State public employment service officials.
``(5) Subject to subsection (c), make available for use in
each State by grant or contract such funds as may be necessary
to support--
``(A) disabled veterans' outreach program specialists
appointed under section 4103A(a)(1) of this title,
``(B) local veterans' employment representatives
assigned under section 4104(b) of this title, and
``(C) the reasonable expenses of such specialists and
representatives described in subparagraphs (A) and (B),
respectively, for training, travel, supplies, and other
business expenses, including travel expenses and per
diem for attendance at the National Veterans'
Employment and Training Services Institute established
under section 4109 of this title.
``(6) Monitor and supervise on a continuing basis the
distribution and use of funds provided for use in the States
under paragraph (5).
``(7) Establish, and update as appropriate, a comprehensive
performance accountability system (as described in subsection
(f)) and carry out annual performance reviews of veterans
employment, training, and placement services provided through
employment service delivery systems, through disabled veterans'
outreach program specialists, and through local veterans'
employment representatives in States receiving grants,
contracts, or awards under this chapter.
``(c) Conditions for Receipt of Funds.--(1) The distribution and use
of funds under subsection (b)(5) in order to carry out sections
4103A(a) and 4104(a) of this title shall be subject to the continuing
supervision and monitoring of the Secretary and shall not be governed
by the provisions of any other law, or any regulations prescribed
thereunder, that are inconsistent with this section or section 4103A or
4104 of this title.
``(2)(A) A State shall submit to the Secretary an application for a
grant or contract under subsection (b)(5). The application shall
contain the following information:
``(i) A plan that describes the manner in which the State
shall furnish employment, training, and placement services
required under this chapter for the program year, including a
description of--
``(I) duties assigned by the State to disabled
veterans' outreach program specialists and local
veterans' employment representatives consistent with
the requirements of sections 4103A and 4104 of this
title; and
``(II) the manner in which such specialists and
representatives are integrated in the employment
service delivery systems in the State.
``(ii) The veteran population to be served.
``(iii) Such additional information as the Secretary may
require to make a determination with respect to awarding a
grant or contract to the State.
``(B)(i) Subject to the succeeding provisions of this subparagraph,
of the amount available under subsection (b)(5) for a fiscal year, the
Secretary shall make available to each State with an application
approved by the Secretary an amount of funding in proportion to the
number of veterans seeking employment using such criteria as the
Secretary may establish in regulation, including civilian labor force
and unemployment data, for the State on an annual basis. The proportion
of funding shall reflect the ratio of--
``(I) the total number of veterans residing in the State that
are seeking employment; to
``(II) the total number of veterans seeking employment in all
States.
``(ii) The Secretary shall phase in over the three fiscal-year period
that begins on October 1, 2002, the manner in which amounts are made
available to States under subsection (b)(5) and this subsection, as
amended by the Jobs for Veterans Act.
``(iii) In carrying out this paragraph, the Secretary may establish
minimum funding levels and hold-harmless criteria for States.
``(3)(A) As a condition of a grant or contract under this section for
a program year, in the case of a State that the Secretary determines
has an entered-employment rate for veterans that is deficient for the
preceding program year, the State shall develop and implement a
corrective action plan to improve that rate for veterans in the State.
The State shall submit the corrective action plan to the Secretary.
``(B) To carry out subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall establish in
regulations a uniform national threshold entered-employment rate for
veterans for a program year by which determinations of deficiency may
be made under subparagraph (A).
``(C) In making a determination with respect to a deficiency under
subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall take into account the applicable
annual unemployment data for the State and consider other factors, such
as prevailing economic conditions, that affect performance of
individuals providing employment, training, and placement services in
the State.
``(4) In determining the terms and conditions of a grant or contract
under which funds are made available to a State in order to carry out
section 4103A or 4104 of this title, the Secretary shall take into
account--
``(A) the results of reviews, carried out pursuant to
subsection (b)(7), of the performance of the employment,
training, and placement service delivery system in the State,
and
``(B) the monitoring carried out under this section.
``(5) Each grant or contract by which funds are made available to a
State shall contain a provision requiring the recipient of the funds--
``(A) to comply with the provisions of this chapter; and
``(B) on an annual basis, to notify to Secretary of, and
provide supporting rationale for, each nonveteran who is
employed as a disabled veterans' outreach program specialist
and local veterans' employment representative for a period in
excess of 6 months.
``(6) Each State shall coordinate employment, training, and placement
services furnished to veterans and eligible persons under this chapter
with such services furnished with respect to such veterans and persons
under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the Wagner-Peyser Act.
``(d) Participation in Other Federally Funded Job Training
Programs.--The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment
and Training shall promote and monitor participation of qualified
veterans and eligible persons in employment and training opportunities
under title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and other
federally funded employment and training programs.
``(e) Regional Administrators.--(1) The Secretary shall assign to
each region for which the Secretary operates a regional office a
representative of the Veterans' Employment and Training Service to
serve as the Regional Administrator for Veterans' Employment and
Training in such region. A person may not be assigned after October 9,
1996, as such a Regional Administrator unless the person is a veteran.
``(2) Each such Regional Administrator shall carry out such duties as
the Secretary may require to promote veterans employment and
reemployment within the region that the Administrator serves.
``(f) Establishment of Performance Standards and Outcomes Measures.--
(1) By not later than 3 months after the date of the enactment of this
section, the Assistant Secretary of Labor forVeterans' Employment and
Training shall establish and implement a comprehensive performance
accountability system to measure the performance of employment service
delivery systems, disabled veterans' outreach program specialists, and
local veterans' employment representatives providing employment,
training, and placement services under this chapter in a State to
provide accountability of that State to the Secretary for purposes of
subsection (c).
``(2) Such standards and measures shall--
``(A) be consistent with State performance measures
applicable under section 136(b) of the Workforce Investment Act
of 1998; and
``(B) be appropriately weighted to provide special
consideration for placement of (i) veterans requiring intensive
services (as defined in section 4101(9) of this title), such as
special disabled veterans and disabled veterans, and (ii)
veterans who enroll in readjustment counseling under section
1712A of this title.
``Sec. 4103. Directors and Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment
and Training; additional Federal personnel
``(a) Directors and Assistant Directors.--(1) The Secretary shall
assign to each State a representative of the Veterans' Employment and
Training Service to serve as the Director for Veterans' Employment and
Training, and shall assign full-time Federal clerical or other support
personnel to each such Director.
``(2) Full-time Federal clerical or other support personnel assigned
to Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training shall be appointed
in accordance with the provisions of title 5 governing appointments in
the competitive service and shall be paid in accordance with the
provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5.
``(b) Additional Federal Personnel.--The Secretary may also assign as
supervisory personnel such representatives of the Veterans' Employment
and Training Service as the Secretary determines appropriate to carry
out the employment, training, and placement services required under
this chapter, including Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment
and Training.''.
(2) Clerical amendments.--The items relating to sections
4102A and 4103, respectively, in the table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 41 are amended to read as follows:
``4102A. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training; program functions; Regional Administrators.
``4103. Directors and Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment and
Training; additional Federal personnel.''.
(3) Conforming amendment relating to performance standards.--
(A)(i) Section 4104A is repealed.
(ii) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 41 is
amended by striking the item relating to section 4104A.
(B) Section 4107(b) is amended by striking ``The Secretary
shall establish definitive performance standards'' and
inserting ``The Secretary shall apply performance standards
established under section 4102A(f) of this title''.
(4) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection
shall take effect on December 1, 2002, and shall apply to
appointments made on or after that date.
(b) Revision of Statutorily Defined Duties of Disabled Veterans'
Outreach Program Specialists and Local Veterans' Employment
Representatives.--
(1) Disabled veterans' outreach program specialists.--Section
4103A is amended by striking all after the heading and
inserting the following:
``(a) Requirement for Employment by States of a Sufficient Number of
Specialists.--(1) Subject to approval by the Secretary, a State shall
employ such full- or part-time disabled veterans' outreach program
specialists as the State determines appropriate and efficient to carry
out intensive services under this chapter to meet the employment needs
of eligible veterans with the following priority in the provision of
services:
``(A) Special disabled veterans.
``(B) Other disabled veterans.
``(C) Other eligible veterans in accordance with priorities
determined by the Secretary taking into account applicable
rates of unemployment and the employment emphases set forth in
chapter 42 of this title.
``(2) In the provision of services in accordance with this
subsection, maximum emphasis in meeting the employment needs of
veterans shall be placed on assisting economically or educationally
disadvantaged veterans.
``(b) Requirement for Qualified Veterans.--A State shall, to the
maximum extent practicable, employ qualified veterans to carry out the
services referred to in subsection (a). Preference shall be given in
the appointment of such specialists to qualified disabled veterans.''.
(2) Local veterans' employment representatives.--Section 4104
is amended by striking all after the heading and inserting the
following:
``(a) Requirement for Employment by States of a Sufficient Number of
Representatives.--Subject to approval by the Secretary, a State shall
employ such full- and part-time local veterans' employment
representatives as the State determines appropriate and efficient to
carry out employment, training, and placement services under this
chapter.
``(b) Principal Duties.--As principal duties, local veterans'
employment representatives shall--
``(1) conduct outreach to employers in the area to assist
veterans in gaining employment, including conducting seminars
for employers and, in conjunction with employers, conducting
job search workshops and establishing job search groups; and
``(2) facilitate employment, training, and placement services
furnished to veterans in a State under the applicable State
employment service delivery systems.
``(c) Preference for Qualified Veterans.--A State shall, to the
maximum extent practicable, employ qualified veterans to carry out the
services referred to in subsection (a).
``(d) Reporting.--Each local veterans' employment representative
shall be administratively responsible to the manager of the employment
service delivery system and shall provide reports, not less frequently
than quarterly, to the manager of such office and to the Director for
Veterans' Employment and Training for the State regarding compliance
with Federal law and regulations with respect to special services and
priorities for eligible veterans and eligible persons.''.
(3) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection
shall take effect on December 1, 2002, and shall apply to
appointments made on or after that date.
(c) Requirement To Promptly Establish One-Stop Employment Services.--
By not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Labor shall provide one-stop services and
assistance to covered persons electronically by means of the Internet,
as defined in section 231(e)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934, and
such other electronic means to enhance the delivery of such services
and assistance.
(d) Requirement for Budget Line Item for Training Services
Institute.--
(1) In general.--The last sentence of section 4106(a) is
amended to read as follows: ``Each budget submission with
respect to such funds shall include a separate listing of the
amount for the National Veterans' Employment and Training
Services Institute together with information demonstrating the
compliance of such budget submission with the funding
requirements specified in the preceding sentence.''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1)
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, and
apply to budget submissions for fiscal year 2004 and each
subsequent fiscal year.
(e) Conforming Amendments.--(1) Section 4107(c)(5) is amended by
striking ``(including the need'' and all that follows through
``representatives)''.
(2) Section 3117(a)(2)(B) is amended to read as follows:
``(B) utilization of employment, training, and placement
services under chapter 41 of this title; and''.
SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS IN VETERANS EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING
SERVICES.
(a) Inclusion of Intensive Services.--
(1) In general.--(A) Section 4101 is amended by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
``(9) The term `intensive services' means local employment
and training services of the type described in section
134(d)(3) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.''.
(B) Section 4102 is amended by striking ``job and job
training counseling service program,'' and inserting ``job and
job training intensive services program,''.
(C) Section 4106(a) is amended by striking ``proper
counseling'' and inserting ``proper intensive services''.
(D) Section 4107(a) is amended by striking ``employment
counseling services'' and inserting ``intensive services''.
(E) Section 4107(c)(1) is amended by striking ``the number
counseled'' and inserting ``the number who received intensive
services''.
(F) Section 4109(a) is amended by striking ``counseling,''
each place it appears and inserting ``intensive services,''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1)
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Additional VETS Duty To Implement Transitions to Civilian
Careers.--
(1) In general.--(A) Section 4102 is amended by striking the
period and inserting ``, including programs carried out by the
Veterans' Employment and Training Service to implement all
efforts to ease the transition of service members to civilian
careers that are consistent with, or an outgrowth of, the
military experience of the service members.''.
(B) Such section is further amended by striking ``and
veterans of the Vietnam era'' and inserting ``and veterans who
served on active duty during a war or in a campaign or
expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1)
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Modernization of Employment Service Delivery Points To Include
Technological Innovations.--
(1) In general.--Section 4101(7) is amended to read as
follows:
``(7) The term `employment service delivery system' means a
service delivery system at which or through which labor
exchange services, including employment, training, and
placement services, are offered in accordance with the Wagner-
Peyser Act.''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1)
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) Increase in Accuracy of Reporting Services Furnished to
Veterans.--
(1) In general.--(A) Section 4107(c)(1) is amended--
(i) by striking ``veterans of the Vietnam era,''; and
(ii) by striking ``and eligible persons who
registered for assistance with'' and inserting
``eligible persons, recently separated veterans (as
defined in section 4211(6) of this title), and
servicemembers transitioning to civilian careers who
registered for assistance with, or who are identified
as veterans by,''.
(B) Section 4107(c)(2) is amended--
(i) by striking ``the job placement rate'' the first
place it appears and inserting ``the rate of entered
employment (as determined in a manner consistent with
State performance measures applicable under section
136(b) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998)''; and
(ii) by striking ``the job placement rate'' the
second place it appears and inserting ``such rate of
entered employment (as so determined)''.
(C) Section 4107(c)(4) is amended by striking ``sections
4103A and 4104'' and inserting ``section 4212(d)''.
(D) Section 4107(c) is amended--
(i) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (4);
(ii) by striking the period at the end of paragraph
(5) and inserting ``; and''; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(6) a report on the operation during the preceding program
year of the program of performance incentive awards for quality
employment services under section 4112 of this title, including
an analysis of the amount of incentives distributed to each
State and the rationale for such distribution.''.
(E) Section 4107(b), as amended by section 4(a)(3)(B), is
further amended by striking the second sentence and inserting
the following: ``Not later than February 1 of each year, the
Secretary shall report to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs
of the Senate and the House of Representatives on the
performance of States and organizations and entities carrying
out employment, training, and placement services under this
chapter, as measured under subsection (b)(7) of section 4102A
of this title. In the case of a State that the Secretary
determines has not met the minimum standard of performance
(established by the Secretary under subsection (f) of such
section), the Secretary shall include an analysis of the extent
and reasons for the State's failure to meet that minimum
standard, together with the State's plan for corrective action
during the succeeding year.''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1)
shall apply to reports for program years beginning on or after
July 1, 2002.
(e) Clarification of Authority of NVETSI To Provide Training for
Personnel of Other Departments and Agencies.--Section 4109 is amended
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(c)(1) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing the
Institute to enter into contracts or agreements with departments or
agencies of the United States or of a State, or with other
organizations, to carry out training of personnel of such departments,
agencies, or organizations in the provision of services referred to in
subsection (a).
``(2) All proceeds collected by the Institute under a contract or
agreement referred to in paragraph (1) shall be applied to the
applicable appropriation.''.
SEC. 6. COMMITTEE TO RAISE EMPLOYER AWARENESS OF SKILLS OF VETERANS AND
BENEFITS OF HIRING VETERANS.
(a) Establishment of Committee.--There is established within the
Department of Labor a committee to be known as the President's National
Hire Veterans Committee (hereinafter in this section referred to as the
``Committee'').
(b) Duties.--The Committee shall establish and carry out a national
program to do the following:
(1) To furnish information to employers with respect to the
training and skills of veterans and disabled veterans, and the
advantages afforded employers by hiring veterans with such
training and skills.
(2) To facilitate employment of veterans and disabled
veterans through participation in America's Career Kit national
labor exchange, and other means.
(c) Membership.--(1) The Secretary of Labor shall appoint 15
individuals to serve as members of the Committee, of whom one shall be
appointed from among representatives nominated by each organization
described in subparagraph (A) and of whom eight shall be appointed from
among representatives nominated by organizations described in
subparagraph (B).
(A) Organizations described in this subparagraph are the
following:
(i) The Ad Council.
(ii) The National Committee for Employer Support of
the Guard and Reserve.
(iii) Veterans' service organizations that have a
national employment program.
(iv) State employment security agencies.
(v) One-stop career centers.
(vi) State departments of veterans affairs.
(vii) Military service organizations.
(B) Organizations described in this subparagraph are such
businesses, small businesses, industries, companies in the
private sector that furnish placement services, civic groups,
workforce investment boards, and labor unions as the Secretary
of Labor determines appropriate.
(2) The following shall be ex officio, nonvoting members of the
Committee:
(A) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
(B) The Secretary of Defense.
(C) The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment
and Training.
(D) The Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
(E) The Postmaster General.
(F) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management.
(3) A vacancy in the Committee shall be filled in the manner in which
the original appointment was made.
(d) Administrative Matters.--(1) The Committee shall meet not less
frequently than once each calendar quarter.
(2) The Secretary of Labor shall appoint the chairman of the
Committee.
(3)(A) Members of the Committee shall serve without compensation.
(B) Members of the Committee shall be allowed reasonable and
necessary travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence,
at rates authorized for persons serving intermittently in the
Government service in accordance with the provisions of subchapter I of
chapter 57 of title 5 while away from their homes or regular places of
business in the performance of the responsibilities of the Committee.
(4) The Secretary of Labor shall provide staff and administrative
support to the Committee to assist it in carrying out its duties under
this section. The Secretary shall assure positions on the staff of the
Committee include positions that are filled by individuals that are
now, or have ever been, employed as one of the following:
(A) Staff of the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training under section 4102A of title 38, United
States Code as in effect on the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(B) Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training under
section 4103 of such title as in effect on such date.
(C) Assistant Director for Veterans' Employment and Training
under such section as in effect on such date.
(D) Disabled veterans' outreach program specialists under
section 4103A of such title as in effect on such date.
(E) Local veterans' employment representatives under section
4104 of such title as in effect on such date.
(5) Upon request of the Committee, the head of any Federal department
or agency may detail, on a nonreimbursable basis, any of the personnel
of that department or agency to the Committee to assist it in carrying
out its duties.
(6) The Committee may contract with and compensate government and
private agencies or persons to furnish information to employers under
subsection (b)(1) without regard to section 3709 of the Revised
Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5).
(e) Report.--Not later than December 31, 2003, 2004, and 2005, the
Secretary of Labor shall submit to Congress a report on the activities
of the Committee under this section during the previous fiscal year,
and shall include in such report data with respect to placement and
retention of veterans in jobs attributable to the activities of the
Committee.
(f) Termination.--The Committee shall terminate 60 days after
submitting the report that is due on December 31, 2005.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary of Labor from the employment security
administration account (established in section 901 of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1101)) in the Unemployment Trust Fund
$3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2005 to carry out this
section.
SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS COMMENDING VETERANS AND MILITARY SERVICE
ORGANIZATIONS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) veterans and military service organizations are to be
commended for the continued assistance the organizations
provide veterans; and
(2) veterans and military service organizations are
encouraged to provide job placement assistance to veterans who
are job-ready by making personal computers with access to
electronic job placement services and programs available to
veterans at local posts and through other means.
SEC. 8. STUDY ON ECONOMIC BENEFITS TO THE UNITED STATES OF LONG-TERM
SUSTAINED EMPLOYMENT OF VETERANS.
(a) Study.--The Secretary of Labor shall enter into a contract with
an appropriate organization or entity to conduct a study to quantify
the economic benefit to the United States attributable to the provision
of employment and training services under chapter 41 of title 38,
United States Code, in assisting veterans to attain long-term,
sustained employment. Such study shall include analyses on the impact
of such employment on Federal, State, and local tax generated by reason
of such employment, the contributions of such employment on the
domestic gross national product, and such other indicators of the
effect of such employment on the economy of the United States.
(b) Report.--A condition of the contract under subsection (a) shall
be that the organization submit to the Secretary of Labor a report on
the study conducted by the organization not later than 18 months after
the date on which that Secretary enters into such contract.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary of Labor $1,000,000 to carry out the
provisions of this section, such sums to remain available until
expended.
Introduction
The bill, H.R. 4015, is based in part on bills that were
introduced and considered in the 106th Congress. On January 19,
1999, the Honorable Bob Filner, Ranking Member of the
Subcommittee on Benefits, introduced H.R. 364, to provide for a
Veterans' Employment and Training Bill of Rights, to strengthen
preference for veterans in hiring, and for other purposes. The
Subcommittee held a hearing on this bill and draft legislative
concepts for Veterans' Employment and Training legislation on
October 28, 1999, and heard testimony from 16 witnesses.
On June 27, 2000, the Honorable Jack Quinn, Chairman, and
the Honorable Bob Filner, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on
Benefits, along with the Honorable Bob Stump and the Honorable
Lane Evans, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Veterans'
Affairs Committee, respectively, introduced H.R. 4765, the 21st
Century Veterans Employment and Training Act, to amend title
38, United States Code, to improve employment and training
services provided to veterans and disabled veterans. The
Subcommittee held hearings on this bill on July 12 and 13,
2000, and heard testimony from 17 witnesses.
On March 20, 2002, the Honorable Mike Simpson, Chairman of
the Subcommittee on Benefits, and the Honorable Silvestre
Reyes, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Benefits, along
with the Honorable Christopher Smith and the Honorable Lane
Evans, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Veterans' Affairs
Committee, respectively, and the Honorable Jack Quinn and the
Honorable Ronnie Shows, introduced H.R. 4015 to amend title 38,
United States Code, to revise and improve employment, training,
and placement services furnished to veterans, and for other
purposes.
The reported bill, H.R. 4015, as amended, reflects the
Committee's consideration of that bill. Some aspects of H.R.
4015 are substantively identical to, or are derived from, H.R.
364 or H.R. 4765.
On April 18, 2002, the Subcommittee met to receive
testimony on H.R. 4015. Witnesses included Honorable Frederico
Juarbe, Jr., Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and
Training, U.S. Department of Labor; Rex Hall, Chairman,
Veterans' Advisory Committee, National Association of State
Workforce Agencies; Roger Madsen, Director, Idaho Department of
Labor; T. P. O'Mahoney, Commissioner Representing Labor, Texas
Workforce Commission; Ken Mayfield, President-Elect, National
Association of Counties; Bruce Wyngaard, Operations Director,
Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, AFSCME Local 11;
Dennis A. Beagle, Executive Board Member, New York State
Employees Federation; Wesley Poriotis, Chief Executive Officer,
Wesley, Brown & Bartle Company, Inc.; Rick Weidman, Director,
Government Relations, Vietnam Veterans of America; Steve
Robertson, Legislative Director, The American Legion; James N.
Magill, Director, National Employment Policy, Veterans of
Foreign Wars of the United States; Carl Blake, Legislative
Director, Paralyzed Veterans of America; Richard Jones,
National Legislative Director, AMVETS; and Brian Lawrence,
Associate Legislative Director, Disabled American Veterans. The
Subcommittee also received written testimony submitted by
William Crandell, Ph.D., Legislative Director, Association of
Service Disabled Veterans; T.M. Hale, Senior Vice President,
Resource Consultants, Inc; and the New Jersey Department of
Labor.
On May 2, 2002, the Subcommittee on Benefits met and
unanimously ordered H.R. 4015, as amended, reported favorably
to the full Committee.
On May 9, 2002, the full Committee met and ordered H.R.
4015, as amended, reported favorably to the House by unanimous
voice vote.
Summary of the Reported Bill
H.R. 4015, as amended, would:
1. Provide priority of service to veterans and spouses of
certain veterans for the receipt of employment, training, and
placement services in any job training program directly funded,
in whole or in part, by the Department of Labor,
notwithstanding any other provision of law.
2. Provide, with respect to Federal contracts and
subcontracts in the amount of $100,000 or more, that the
contractor and any subcontractor take affirmative action to
employ and advance in employment qualified veterans, including
immediately listing employment openings for such contracts
through the appropriate employment delivery system.
3. Change ``Veterans Readjustment Authority (VRA)'' to
``Veterans Recruitment Authority'' and change eligibility for
such non-competitive appointment in the Federal government from
Vietnam era and post-Vietnam era veterans to qualified covered
veterans (see paragraph four) within the 10-year period that
begins on the date of the veteran's last discharge; the 10-year
period would not apply to a veteran with a service-connected
disability of 30 percent or more.
4. Make eligible as ``covered veterans'' for Federal
contracts and subcontracts and the Veterans Recruitment
Authority:
disabled veterans;
veterans who served on active duty during a
war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign
badge has been authorized;
veterans who, while serving on active duty
in the Armed Forces, participated in a United States
military operation for which an Armed Forces service
medal was awarded; or
veterans discharged or released from
military service within the past three years.
5. Require the Secretary to carry out a program of
performance incentive awards to states to encourage the
improvement and modernization of employment, training and
placement services to veterans.
6. Authorize additional funds to be appropriated for the
Secretary to carry out the program of performance incentive
awards of $10 million for the program year beginning in fiscal
year 2004; $25 million for the program year beginning in fiscal
year 2005; $50 million for the program year beginning in fiscal
year 2006; $75 million for the program year beginning in fiscal
year 2007; and $100 million for the program year beginning in
fiscal year 2008.
7. Establish the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Veterans' Employment and Training as a career federal civil
service position, with such individual having at least five
years of continuous Federal service in the executive branch
immediately preceding appointment as Deputy Assistant
Secretary; and require such person to be a veteran.
8. Set forth conditions for receipt of funding by states
to include a requirement that a State submit an application for
a grant or contract describing the manner in which the State is
to furnish employment, training, and placement services
9. Revise the methods by which the Secretary furnishes
Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program Specialist (DVOPs) and
Local Veterans' Employment Representative (LVER) funds to a
state. Require the Secretary to make funds available for a
fiscal year to each state in proportion to the number of
veterans seeking employment using such criteria as the
Secretary may establish in regulation, including civilian labor
force and unemployment data, for the state on an annual basis.
The proportion of funding would reflect the ratio of the total
number of veterans residing in the state that are seeking
employment to the total number of veterans seeking employment
in all states.
10. Require that the Secretary phase-in over the three
fiscal year period that begins on October 1, 2002, the funding
described by paragraph nine above.
11. Require the Secretary to establish minimum funding
levels and hold-harmless criteria in administering funding to
the states.
12. Require that when a state has an entered-employment
rate that the Secretary determines is deficient for the
preceding year, the state must develop and implement a
corrective action plan that is submitted to the Secretary.
13. Require the Secretary to establish in regulations a
uniform national threshold entered-employment rate for a
program year by which determinations of deficiency may be made.
The Secretary must take into account the applicable annual
unemployment data for the state and consider other factors,
such as prevailing economic conditions, that affect performance
of individuals providing employment, training, and placement
services in the state.
14. Require the Secretary to assign to each region a
representative of the Veterans' Employment and Training Service
to serve as Regional Administrator for Veterans' Employment and
Training. The Regional Administrator must be a veteran.
15. Require the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training to establish and implement a
comprehensive accountability system to measure the performance
of delivery systems in a state. Such standards and measures
must be (1) consistent with state performance measures
applicable under section 136(b) of the Workforce Investment Act
of 1998, and (2) appropriately weighted to provide special
consideration for veterans requiring intensive services, such
as special disabled veterans and disabled veterans, and for
veterans who enroll in readjustment counseling services
furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
16. Require the Secretary to assign to each state a
representative of the Veterans Employment and Training Service
(VETS) to serve as the Director for Veterans' Employment and
Training (DVET) and full-time Federal clerical or other support
personnel to each Director; authorize the Secretary to assign
as supervisory personnel such representatives of VETS as the
Secretary determines appropriate.
17. Require, subject to approval by the Secretary, that
states employ a sufficient number of full or part-time DVOPs to
carry out intensive services to meet the employment needs of
special disabled veterans, other disabled veterans and other
eligible veterans. To the maximum extent practicable such
employees are to be qualified veterans. Preference would be
given to qualified disabled veterans.
18. Require, subject to approval by the Secretary, that a
state employ such full and part-time LVERs as the state
determines appropriate and efficient to carry out employment,
training and placement services. To the maximum extent
practicable, such employees are to be qualified veterans.
19. Require the Secretary, within 18 months of enactment,
to enhance the delivery of services by providing ``one-stop''
services and assistance to covered persons electronically by
the Internet and by other electronic means.
20. Clarify the authority of the National Veterans'
Employment and Training Services Institute (NVETSI) to enter
into contracts or agreements with departments or agencies of
the United States or of a state, or with other organizations,
to carry out training in providing veterans' employment,
training, and placement services. Further, require that each
annual budget submission include a separate listing of the
amount for NVETSI.
21. Authorize $3 million to be appropriated to the
Secretary of Labor from the employment security administration
account in the Unemployment Trust Fund for each of fiscal years
2003 through 2005 to establish within the Department of Labor
the President's National Hire Veterans Committee. The Committee
would furnish information to employers with respect to the
training and skills of veterans and disabled veterans, and with
respect to the advantages afforded employers by hiring
veterans.
22. Express the sense of Congress commending veterans and
military service organizations, and encourage them to provide
job placement assistance to veterans who are job-ready by
making personal computers available to them with access to
electronic job placement services and programs.
23. Authorize $1 million for the Secretary of Labor to
enter into a contract with an appropriate organization or
entity to conduct an 18-month study to quantify the economic
benefit to the United States attributable to the provision of
employment and training services provided under chapter 41 of
title 38, United States Code, in helping veterans to attain
long-term, sustained employment.
Background
In response to legislation introduced during the 107th
Congress, the Honorable Mike Simpson, Chairman of the
Subcommittee on Benefits, requested a legislative history from
the Congressional Research Service (CRS) on veterans'
employment and training services under the depression-era
Wagner-Peyser Act, the World War II-era Veterans' Employment
Service, and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998. The
Committee believes this information is useful in light of the
need for a Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS)
delivery system compatible with the WIA and one-stop career
centers. Such a delivery system should also reflect self-
service for job-ready veterans through America's Job Bank and
America's Talent Bank, which are Internet-based job services
for applicants and employers, and greater emphasis on
accountability for performance of publicly funded programs. The
paper submitted by the Domestic Social Policy Division of the
CRS follows:
Background Information on Programs Under the Jurisdiction of the
Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) of the Department
of Labor
Preparatory to the Committee's consideration of the Jobs
for Veterans Act (H.R. 4015), on April 30, 2002 Subcommittee on
Benefits Chairman Michael K. Simpson asked for background
information on employment services provided to veterans,
especially disabled veterans following their armed forces
active duty service. In addition, you requested a brief
discussion of the implications of Public Law 105-220 for these
services.
Veterans' employment services, governed by 38 USC Section
4100, are provided by Disabled Veterans Outreach Program
specialists (DVOPs), and Local Veterans' Employment
Representatives (LVERs). These specialists and representatives
are employed by State Employment Service Agencies (SESA), and
paid from funds raised under authority of the Federal
Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA). Training for these specialists and
representatives is often provided through the National
Veterans' Training Institute (NVTI). The employment services
and NVTI are administered through the Veterans' Employment and
Training Service (VETS) of the Department of Labor (DoL).
Origins of Employment Services for Unemployed Workers
A formal mechanism for matching specific job opportunities
with qualified persons is a rational response to
industrialization, in which efficiency is enhanced by a
predictable and dependable labor force, and workers are
vulnerable to displacement during economic downturns. During
the 19th Century, public offices specifically designed to
accomplish these reciprocal purposes were established, first by
cities, and subsequently by several states. At the onset of
World War I, the need for a national manpower pool to support
the war effort led to the formation of the U.S. public
employment service system, which then substantially disappeared
following the end of the war and declining defense industry
demand for workers. During the Depression of the 1930s, the
federal government tried several approaches that many hoped
would relieve the financial hardship of displaced workers, as
well as revitalize the economy and stimulate recovery. As part
of the recovery efforts, many public jobs were created, thereby
combining work relief for the unemployed with the economic
stimulus of increased spending by displaced workers who would
otherwise be without income.
To help link these public jobs with workers who needed
them, Congress resurrected the concept of a publicly-supported
system of employment services when it passed the Wagner-Peyser
Act of 1933, which called for the development of federal-state
employment service offices. In 1935, as part of the Social
Security Act, Congress expanded the role of the employment
service offices by establishing an unemployment insurance
benefit program, thereby creating a governmental interest in
determining whether benefit applicants were ready, able, and
looking for work.
Development of Employment and Training Services for Veterans
The broad nature of the Great Depression made the scope and
import of a national employment service part of a strategy of
economic recovery. Yet, the federal-state employment service
focused, at least initially, on the circumstances of individual
workers, local employers, and the communities in which they
resided. With the onset of World War II, however, the scope of
employment service offices expanded under federal authority to
promote the efficient matching of defense industry needs with
available manpower, an exchange that reflected the interstate
nature of a national response to a national crisis. Then, as
the war neared conclusion, Congress considered the widespread
economic implications of a massive demobilization of individual
troops, and established a national priority for the placement
of veterans in available jobs as part of the Servicemen's
Readjustment Act for 1944 (commonly known as the GI Bill). The
GI Bill helped returning service-members and a recovering
national economy adjust to each other.
In adopting special employment services for returning
troops, Congress expanded the role of the Employment Service to
include a variety of case-specific services to help individual
veterans become more employable. The law established a system
of priorities giving veterans hiring advantages over
nonveterans in the pursuit of federal government jobs, and
early notice about the availability of other jobs in the
nonfederal sector. To assure that these objectives would be
vigorously pursued, Congress provided for grants to states for
the specific purpose of hiring persons who would become expert
in the placement of veterans needing jobs. These special
experts, referred to as Local Veterans' Employment
Representatives (LVERs) assisted veterans looking for work, and
as well combed the community for employers with jobs suitable
for such veterans.
SPECIAL EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE FOR VIETNAM ERA VETERANS
In January of 1977, DOL initiated a three-part plan to
reduce high unemployment among veterans of the Vietnam Era,
especially disabled veterans. Employment opportunities for the
Vietnam Era veterans were perceived as particularly limited
because of wide-spread economic problems, but also because such
veterans were not enjoying the advantages of returning from
active duty to a public grateful for their military service.
One part of the plan focused on Help through Industry
Retraining and Employment (HIRE), while another established a
hiring goal of 35 percent more veterans in public employment.
The third part of the plan was the Disabled Veterans Outreach
Program (DVOP), which envisioned a strong outreach program to
identify veterans in need of special employment services, as
well as the active cultivation of employers attuned to the
responsibility to hire veterans, especially disabled veterans
and those from the Vietnam Era. Many DVOP specialists were
themselves disabled veterans, who were thereby perceived to
have special affinities with the disabled veterans needing
employment assistance.
DVOP specialists and LVERs were mostly located in local
State Employment Service Agency (SESA) offices, although by
law, one-fourth of DVOP staff were stationed at least some of
the time at veterans outreach contact points in VA facilities,
military installations, and veterans service organization
offices. In the spring of 1977, program staff began referring
eligible veterans to training and supportive services,
educational opportunities, and appropriate job openings that
the staff identified among federal contractors with special
veterans priority obligations. \1\ In addition, the DVOP
specialists and LVERs set out to develop working relationships
with other job sources, such as labor unions, community
organizations, and employers. By July 1979, the unemployment
rate for the same group had declined to 3.5 percent from 5.7
percent 2 years earlier, with an actual decline of 111,000 in
the number of unemployed Vietnam Era veterans during the same
period, according to DOL reports.
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\1\ The Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974
requires employers with federal contracts of $10,000 or more to list
all openings (except certain exempt managerial positions) with local
SESA offices. The Act also requires ``affirmative action'' programs for
the hiring of veterans, and local employment service offices are
expected to monitor contractor compliance, submitting the names of
employers suspected of noncompliance to DOL for investigation and
eventual resolution.
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CURRENT OPERATIONS OF THE DVOPS AND LVERS EMPLOYMENT SERVICES
Under current law, LVERs are authorized under a formula
that provides for one representative for an employment service
office with at least 1,100 veterans registered for assistance,
with an additional representative for each 1,500 registered
veterans above that level. Time is allocated among local
employment service offices at the rate of one half-time LVER
for each office in which between 350 and 1,100 veterans were
registered for employment services. Current law provides for
one DVOP specialist for each 7,400 veterans between the ages of
20 and 64 who are residing within a state.
The actual number of positions is governed by the level of
appropriations Congress provides to fill the authorized
positions. For FY2000, an appropriation of $80.215 million
supports grants for 1,328 DVOP specialists, while $77.253
million supports 1,173 LVERs. About $2 million is available for
training of DVOP specialists and LVERs through the National
Veterans' Training Institute (NVTI).
Implications for VETS Programs of P.L. 105-220, the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998 (WIA)
When Congress enacted the Workforce Investment Act of 1998,
its stated purpose was to ``consolidate, coordinate, and
improve employment, training, literacy, and vocational
rehabilitation programs.'' WIA contains provisions which codify
a concept called the One-Stop Career Center system, and the Act
requires that employment services be delivered through state
One-Stop offices. \2\ Under requirements of WIA, local areas
established, by July 1, 2000, One-Stop career centers with
access to services provided under multiple programs. Unemployed
persons will have streamlined access to employment, education,
training, counseling, and job availability information, that in
the past was generally available only in separate locations.
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\2\ For further information on the employment service and the
implications of passage of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, see
CRS Report RL30248, The Employment Service: The Federal-State Public
Labor Exchange System, by Alison Pasternak and Ann Lordeman.
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WIA envisions employment service offices being able to take
advantage of modern electronic data processing to expedite
finding appropriate jobs for qualified applicants, as well as
to help potential employees identify available jobs, and assist
with their applications. In key ways, the new system mimics the
essential characteristics that guided federal employment
service policy during wartime, by identifying job opportunities
and workforce applicants across geographical boundaries.
Instead of a localized objective of matching job seekers with
work in their hometowns, the WIA approach, as did the wartime
employment services before it, allows workers to seek suitable
employment in far off places, while giving employers a
nationwide pool of potential applicants from which to draw.
The WIA does not specifically address the role of DOL
Veterans Employment and Training service programs and personnel
within One-Stop offices. However, Title 38 limits LVERs and
DVOP specialists to providing assistance only to veterans, an
apparent conflict with the function of a One-Stop career
center, in which services are integrated through a case-
management concept that guides clientele to particular staff
most able to provide the services the individual client needs.
Thus, without changes to the way in which LVERs and DVOPs
function in employment service offices, veterans may not
benefit from the greater access to national job market
information that WIA facilitates. Further, DVOP specialists and
LVERs may need retraining to take advantage of the new
employment service capability at their fingertips.
By enacting WIA, Congress encouraged the utilization of
modern technological capabilities and a global approach to job
searches. This broad national approach is also intended to
provide individualized, intensive assistance to specific
individuals needing employment search assistance. This restyled
employment services approach appears to be consistent with the
national responsibility Congress has previously accepted with
respect to veterans, especially disabled veterans, and their
employment search needs.
Discussion of the Reported Bill
Although our country's economic, social, and military
environment have changed dramatically over the past few
decades, the legal framework, policy and operational direction
governing the provision of employment services remain from an
earlier era that had its genesis in the Great Depression.
Veterans' employment services are today provided in accordance
with prescriptive and inflexible process-oriented provisions of
law that have become obsolete as new employment delivery
methods have evolved. From May 1997 to June 2001, the General
Accounting Office issued eight reports criticizing the U.S.
Department of Labor, Veterans' Employment and Training Service
(VETS), for deficiencies in performance, performance
measurement, and strategic planning. \1\
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\1\ Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Flexibility and
Accountability Needed to Improve Service to Veterans (GAO-01-928,
September, 2001)
Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Further Changes Needed
to Strengthen Its Performance Measurement System (GAO-01-757T, June,
2001)
Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Proposed Performance
Measurement System Improved, But Further Changes Needed (GAO-01-580,
May, 2001)
Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Better Planning Needed
to Address Future Needs (GAO/T-HEHS-00-206, September, 2000)
Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Strategic and
Performance Plans Lack Vision and Clarity (GAO/T-HEHS-99-177, July,
1999)
Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Assessment of the Fiscal
Year 1999 Performance Plan (GAO/HEHS-98-240R, September, 1998)
Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Services Provided in
Labor Department Programs (GAO/HEHS-98-7, October, 1997)
Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Focusing on Program
Results to Improve Agency Performance (GAO/T-HEHS-97-129, May, 1997)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Veterans bring a unique combination of skill, discipline,
character, and talent to the marketplace. Although hiring
veterans is a good business decision, veterans are a unique
national resource that too often goes unrecognized and
underused. The Gallup Organization's 1998 National Survey of
Employers, requested by the Commission on Servicemembers and
Veterans Transition Assistance, found that only 26 percent of
employers actively recruited veterans. When asked where
employers look to hire veterans, 48 percent incorrectly
identified the Department of Veterans Affairs, and only 25
percent cited the local Job Service office in their state.
Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor job
training programs. Section 2 of the reported bill would provide
priority of service for veterans and other covered persons in
Department of Labor funded job training programs. It would
define ``priority of service'' with respect to any qualified
job training program to give priority to eligible veterans and
other covered persons over non-veterans for the receipt of
employment, training, and placement services under those
programs, notwithstanding any other provision of law. A
``covered person'' means: (1) a veteran; (2) a spouse of any of
the following individuals: (a) veteran who died of a service-
connected disability, (b) any member of the armed forces who,
at the time of application for assistance under this section is
listed for more than 90 days, pursuant to section 556 of title
37, United States Code, by the Secretary concerned in one or
more of the following categories: (i) missing in action, (ii)
captured in the line of duty by a hostile force, or (iii)
forcibly detained or interned in the line of duty by a foreign
government or power, (c) a veteran who has a total disability
resulting from a service-connected disability, or (d) a veteran
who died while a disability so evaluated was in existence.
Section 2 also would authorize the Secretary of Labor to
set priorities among eligible persons, taking into account the
needs of disabled and special disabled veterans, and any other
factors the Secretary considers appropriate.
In regard to the priority of service, the Committee notes
the testimony submitted for the record by the New Jersey
Department of Labor as being illustrative of the view of many
organizations: ``The State of New Jersey fully supports
broadening the mandate to provide priority of service to
veterans in all DOL Job Training programs, in addition to the
separate section 168 programs under the Workforce Investment
Act of 1998. We attempt to do this now for all of our programs
and are encouraged that this provision would be enacted into
law.''
The Committee believes this is an appropriate policy
because veterans earn priority through honorable and often
hazardous service to the nation. In effect, this section would
codify current practice in some DOL-funded programs where
veterans are participating at a level that exceeds parity.
The DOL Employment and Training Administration ``9002
Report'' for 1999 shows 2,149,156 total workforce participants,
of which 4.5 percent of the veteran population was identified
as ``economically disadvantaged.'' This is compared to 5.4
percent of the non-veteran population that was identified as
``economically disadvantaged.'' Although veterans were slightly
less likely to be ``economically disadvantaged,'' veterans
nevertheless represented six percent of adults who received
service in the Title II-A ``economically disadvantaged''
program for program year 1999 and received services beyond
initial assessment.
With respect to the Title III ``dislocated worker''
program, Bureau of Labor Statistics on the Employment Situation
of Vietnam Era Veterans, September 1999, published in June
2000, Tables 1 and 8, show there were 14.9 million veterans in
the Civilian Labor Force, representing 10.9 percent of it. In
program year 1999, veterans participated in the ``dislocated
worker'' program at 11 percent, slightly above parity. The
Committee believes that with the enactment of its first-in-line
policy, veterans participation can be higher. See, Social
Policy Research Associates, PY 99 SPIR Data Book, April 2001,
Table II-3.
The Committee views its first-in-line priority as promoting
even greater improvements in current DOL performance in which
veterans' participation is beyond parity. Veterans have earned
such priority by serving in our All-Volunteer Force. See,
Social Policy Research Associates, PY 99 SPIR Data Book, April
2001.
Section 2 also would provide, with respect to Federal
contracts and subcontracts in the amount of $100,000 or more
entered into by any department or agency of the United States
for the procurement of personal property and non personal
services (including construction), a provision requiring that
the contractor or subcontractor take affirmative action to
employ and advance in employment qualified covered veterans. In
this section, a ``covered veteran'' is defined as (1) a
disabled veteran, (2) a veteran who served on active duty in
the Armed Forces during a war or in a campaign or expedition
for which a campaign badge is authorized, (3) a veteran who,
while serving on active duty in the Armed Forces, participated
in a United States military operation, for which an Armed
Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order
12985, and (4) a recently-separated veteran (within three years
after discharge or release from military service).
The testimony of Mr. Bruce Wyngaard, Operations Director,
Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (American Federation
of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 11),
illustrates the view of many witnesses who testified with
respect to federal contracts: ``We strongly support the
provision in the legislation that would require contractors to
list their job openings with the appropriate employment service
delivery system. AFSCME believes mandatory listing of job
vacancies with the employment service is essential to building
an effective national labor exchange for veterans. . . .''
Section 2 further would make various changes to the
language in section 4214(a)(1) of title 38, United States Code,
regarding the obligation of the United States to assist
veterans of the Armed Forces in readjusting to civilian life
since veterans, who by virtue of their military service, have
lost opportunities to pursue education and training oriented
toward civilian careers.
Finally, section 2 would change ``Veterans Readjustment
Authority (VRA)'' to ``Veterans Recruitment Authority.''
Eligibility for such non-competitive appointment to Federal
service would change from Vietnam era and post-Vietnam era
veterans to ``qualified covered veterans'' (as discussed in the
Summary at paragraph four) within the 10-year period that
begins on the date of the veteran's last discharge or release
from active duty; the 10-year limitation would not apply to a
veteran with a service-connected disability of 30 percent or
more. The Committee believes that VRA, as revised by the
reported bill, would serve as a valuable tool to recruit future
veterans to Federal civilian service.
Performance incentive awards for quality veterans
employment, training, and placement services. Section 3 of H.R.
4015, as amended, would require the Secretary to carry out a
program of performance incentive cash awards to states to
encourage the improvement and modernization of employment,
training and placement services to veterans. The performance
incentive cash awards for each program year would be with
respect to services provided during the preceding program year,
beginning with fiscal year 2004.
This section also would require the Secretary to:
establish eligibility criteria for such
awards through a consultative process with states,
political subdivisions of states, and other providers
of employment, training, and placement services under
the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 consistent with
the other performance measures for services authorized
by this chapter;
determine the amount of performance incentive
awards in a state under this section by measuring the
performance of a state in providing employment,
training and placement services furnished veterans and
eligible persons in each state through employment
service delivery systems, through disabled veterans'
outreach program specialists, and through local
veterans' employment representatives during the
previous program year based on the measures of
performance established under this chapter;
provide greater amounts to states that
provide the highest quality services during the
previous year based on measures of performance;
provide awards to states that have made
significant improvements in the delivery of services,
but may not have provided the highest quality services;
and
consider the applicable annual state
employment data and other factors, such as prevailing
economic conditions, that affect performance of
individuals providing employment, training, and
placement services in the state.
The performance awards would be in addition to state VETS
program grants for disabled veterans' outreach program
specialists and local veterans' employment representatives, and
expenses for them to attend the National Veterans' Employment
and Training Services Institute. Award funds could be obligated
during the program year in which the cash award was received
and the subsequent program year.
Section 3 would authorize the amount of performance
incentive awards to be appropriated for the Secretary, in
addition to amounts authorized to be appropriated to carry out
chapters 41, 42, and 43 of title 38, United States Code as
follows: $10 million for the program year beginning in fiscal
year 2004, $25 million for the program year beginning in fiscal
year 2005, $50 million for the program year beginning in fiscal
year 2006, $75 million for the program year beginning in fiscal
year 2007, and $100 million for the program year beginning in
fiscal year 2008.
The testimony of witnesses at the April 18, 2002 hearing of
the Subcommittee on Benefits on H.R. 4015 strongly supported
this section. The Honorable Frederico Juarbe, Jr., Assistant
Secretary of Veterans' Employment and Training, stated,
``incorporating the expectation of high performance is an
essential component of an effective workforce system. H.R.
4015, as amended, provides incentives not only to those states
that provide the highest level of performance, but also to
those states that show significant improvements.''
Mr. Rex Hall, Chairman, Veterans' Advisory Committee,
National Association of State Workforce Agencies, stated that,
``we welcome the establishment of an incentive program that
rewards states for good performance. . . . The states welcome
this initiative and believe that replacing the current
performance measures under Title 38 with outcome-based measures
that are similar to the new labor exchange (Wagner-Peyser Act)
will result in better services to veterans and will be more
aligned with the current delivery structure in states.''
William Crandell, Ph. D., of the Association of Service
Disabled Veterans noted, ``The method your bill has chosen . .
. wisely relies on performance incentives rather than
punishment. Give state managers a shot at earning a larger
budget, and many will take you up on it.'' The Committee
believes that this provision would give every state an equal
opportunity to excel.
Refinement of job training and placement functions of the
Department. Section 4 of H.R. 4015, as amended, would revise
the functions of Department level senior officials, continuing
within the Department of Labor (DOL) the position of Assistant
Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training (ASVET), to be
appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the
Senate to formulate and implement all departmental policies and
procedures to carry out chapters 41, 42, and 43 of title 38,
United States Code, and all other DOL employment, unemployment,
and training programs to the extent they affect veterans. The
bill would require that such individual be a veteran.
Additionally, section 4 would revise the qualifications for
the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Veterans'
Employment and Training. No individual would be eligible for
appointment to such position unless the individual has at least
five years of continuous service in the Federal civil service
in the executive branch immediately preceding appointment as
Deputy Assistant Secretary. For purposes of determining such
continuous service of the individual, the reported bill
excludes certain specified types of executive branch service.
The reported bill would require the Deputy Assistant Secretary
to be a veteran.
Section 4 also would specify program functions of the
Veterans' Employment and Training Service. The Committee notes
this section of the bill largely follows current law with
respect to the seven duties of the ASVET listed under section
4102A(b), but with certain clarifying or substantive revisions.
For example, this section:
adds veteran and disabled veteran-owned
business concerns to the entities that programs,
grantees and contractors would be encouraged to enter
into cooperative arrangements in order to meet
veterans' employment and training needs;
clarifies that the ASVET carries out
employment, job training, and placement activities with
appropriate state employment service officials and
other providers;
replaces ``fringe benefits'' with ``other
business expenditures'' in regard to expenses for which
state grantees or contractors may be reimbursed for
specialists' and representatives', including for
attendance at the National Veterans' Employment and
Training Services Institute;
deletes the monitoring of appointments and
assignment requirements for disabled veterans' outreach
program specialists and local veterans' employment
representatives; and
requires the Secretary to establish and
update as appropriate, a comprehensive performance
accountability system and carry out annual performance
reviews of veterans employment, training, and placement
services provided through employment service delivery
systems, through disabled veterans' outreach program
specialists, and through local veterans' employment
representatives in states receiving grants, contracts,
or awards under this chapter.
This section would revise the methods by which the
Secretary furnishes DVOP and LVER funds to a state by requiring
the Secretary to make funds available for each fiscal year in
proportion to the number of veterans seeking employment using
such criteria as the Secretary may establish in regulation,
including civilian labor force and unemployment rates. The
proportion of funding would reflect the ratio of the total
number of veterans residing in the state that are seeking
employment to the total number of veterans seeking employment
in all states.
The Secretary would be required to phase-in over the three
fiscal year period that begins on October 1, 2002, the manner
in which amounts are made available to the states for DVOPs and
LVERs, as amended by this Act. It also would give the Secretary
the discretionary authority to establish minimum funding levels
and hold-harmless criteria for states in administering funding
to the states. This flexibility is especially appropriate for
smaller states with limited staffing to maintain a continuity
of service during swings in unemployment rates. This provision
was derived from suggestions from the U.S. Department of Labor
and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies.
As revised by this bill, section 4102(c)(3) of title 38,
United States Code, would require that when a state has an
entered-employment rate that the Secretary determines is
deficient for the preceding year, the state must develop and
implement a corrective action plan that is submitted to the
Secretary. The Secretary would also be required to establish in
regulations a uniform national threshold entered-employment
rate for a program year by which determinations of deficiency
may be made. In making such determinations, the Secretary would
be required to take into account the applicable annual
unemployment data for the state and consider other factors,
such as prevailing economic conditions, that affect performance
of individuals providing employment, training, and placement
services in the state. In determining the terms and conditions
of a grant or contract for DVOP and LVER services, the
Secretary would be required to take into account (1) the
results of reviews carried out through the comprehensive
performance accountability system regarding the performance of
the employment, training and placements delivery system in each
state, and (2) the on-going monitoring of this performance.
Each grant or contract by which funds would be made
available to a state would be required to contain a provision
that the recipient of the funds comply with the provisions of
chapter 41 of title 38, United States Code, and on an annual
basis, notify the Secretary of Labor and provide supporting
rationale for each non-veteran who is employed as a DVOP and
LVER for a period in excess of six months. States also would be
required to coordinate employment, training, and placement
services furnished to veterans and eligible persons under this
chapter with such services furnished to such veterans and
persons under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the
Wagner-Peyser Act.
As stated above, the ASVET, not later than three months
after enactment, would be required to establish and implement a
comprehensive performance accountability system to measure the
performance of employment service delivery systems (including
Wagner-Peyser personnel), disabled veterans' outreach program
specialists, and local veterans' employment representatives,
providing employment, training and placement services in a
state. The standards and measures would have to be consistent
with state performance measures applicable under section 136(b)
of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, and be appropriately
weighted to provide special consideration for placement of
veterans requiring intensive services (as defined in section
4101(9) of title 38, United States Code), such as special
disabled and disabled veterans, and veterans who enroll in
readjustment counseling under section 1712A of title 38, United
States Code.
Subject to the approval by the Secretary, states would be
required to employ a sufficient number of full or part-time
DVOPs to carry out intensive services to meet the employment
needs of eligible veterans with the following priority in the
provision of services: (1) special disabled veterans, (2) other
disabled veterans, and (3) other eligible veterans in
accordance with priorities determined by the Secretary taking
into account applicable rates of unemployment and the
unemployment criteria set forth in chapter 42 of title 38,
United States Code. This section would also require the
Secretary to place maximum emphasis on meeting the employment
needs of veterans who are economically or educationally
disadvantaged. A state, to the maximum extent practicable,
would be required to employ qualified veterans to carry out
DVOP services, and give preference in hiring to qualified
disabled veterans. While it is the Committee's intention that
these positions ordinarily be filled by eligible veterans and
preferably eligible disabled veterans, the Committee recognizes
that under certain circumstances, it may be appropriate or
necessary to employ a nonveteran in these positions on a
temporary or permanent basis. The reporting requirement for the
States to provide information and rationale to the Secretary
whenever a nonveteran is employed for more than six months is
intended to permit monitoring of the states efforts and to
assure that veterans are employed in these positions to ``the
maximum extent practicable''.
The reported bill would provide for the principal duties of
LVERs to include conducting outreach to employers to assist
veterans in gaining employment, and, in conjunction with
employers, conducting job search workshops and establishing job
search groups. Duties would also include facilitating
employment, training and placement services furnished to
veterans in a state under the applicable state employment
delivery system. States would be required, to the maximum
extent practicable, to employ qualified veterans to carry out
duties of LVERs. The Committee expects that veterans would
ordinarily fill such positions, but permits nonveterans to be
hired when necessary to assure services to veterans.
Further, the Secretary of Labor, within 18 months of
enactment, would be required to provide one-stop services and
assistance to covered persons electronically by the Internet
and other electronic means, to enhance the delivery of such
services. For the one-stop office, the Committee expects that
the Secretary would establish a virtual Job Service website
with four platforms: transition and job readiness, resources,
job fair and employer support, plus on-line access to veterans
case managers. The system should complement, not supplant,
similar efforts of state employment security agencies.
Electronic links to services of such agencies should be
provided when feasible. The Department of Defense would market
and promote such services to transitioning servicemembers, and
the Department of Labor and the individual state would promote
with employers the use of the website for recruiting.
The U.S. Army has had comprehensive Internet-based
employment assistance services available (located at
www.acap.army.mil) since 1996 for active-duty clients and
family members. Veterans are provided access to the system for
up to 90 days after leaving active duty. The written testimony
of Resource Consultants, Inc. (RCI), at the July 12, 2000 and
April 18, 2002 hearings of the Subcommittee on Benefits stated:
The (Army) Internet-based service includes a
comprehensive listing of available jobs that is updated
daily, job search tutorials, an e-mail-based job
assistance help line, links to the major Internet-based
job listing services, and similar services. It has been
a popular service with clients able to continue job
searches away from an ACAP site, as well as for having
access to a job counselor by mail.
The Committee encourages the Secretary of Labor to consult
with the Secretary of the Army in developing the Internet-based
``one-stop'' job service office for veterans and
servicemembers, as would be required by the provision.
The reported bill would remove from law highly prescriptive
provisions that the Committee believes limit the flexibility of
states' and counties' abilities to serve both veterans and
employers, including detailed descriptions for DVOP and LVER
positions; the rigid method for assigning DVOPs and LVERs to
local employment offices; and intrusive authority of state
Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training to participate
in the annual performance rating of DVOPs and LVERs in state or
county merit systems.
The reported bill would make states and counties more
accountable with respect to outcomes and results, but allows
them greater flexibility. Assistant Secretary Juarbe testified
at the Subcommittee on Benefits hearing on April 18, 2002, that
``flexibility is critical to making services more accessible to
veterans.'' T. P. O'Mahoney, Commissioner representing Labor
for the Texas Workforce Commission, testified as well that
``the cornerstone of this new [Workforce Investment Act] system
is local control accompanied by flexibility and integration of
programs to deliver high quality services . . .'' Mr. O'Mahoney
also stated ``the authorization for half-time DVOP staff will
certainly improve total operations and allow more
flexibility.''
The Committee emphasizes that under the proposed 38 U.S.C.
4102A(c), entitled ``Conditions for Receipt of Funds'', each
state would be required to describe in an annual plan the
manner in which DVOPs and LVERs are integrated in the
employment service delivery systems in the state. The Committee
agrees with testimony from both Assistant Secretary Juarbe and
the witnesses from the National Association of State Workforce
Agencies that in meeting the needs of veterans in the 21st
century workplace, veterans' services need to be closely
aligned with the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
Additional improvements in veterans employment and training
services. Section 5 of H.R. 4015, as amended, would make
several definitional and reporting changes in law to conform
better to the Workforce Investment Act, including:
defining ``intensive services'' as local
employment and training services of the type described
in section 134(d)(3) of the Workforce Investment Act of
1998;
replacing ``job and job training counseling
service program'' with ``job and job training intensive
services program''; and
replacing ``employment counseling services''
and ``counseling'' with ``intensive services.''
Section 5 would add programs easing the transition of
servicemembers to civilian careers to those programs the
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training administers.
This section would update use of various terms to more
accurately capture outcomes, such as: (1) replacing ``and
eligible persons who are registered for assistance with'' with
``eligible persons, and servicemembers transitioning to
civilian life who registered for assistance with or who are
identified as veterans by,'' (2) replacing ``job placement
rate'' the first place it appears with ``the rate of entered
employment (as determined in a manner consistent with state
performance measures applicable under section 136(b) of the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998),'' and (3) replacing ``the
job placement rate'' the second place it appears with ``such
rate of entered employment''.
This section would require the Secretary of Labor to
include in the Department's annual report to the House and
Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs information on (1) the
operation during the preceding program year of the program of
performance incentive awards for quality employment services,
including an analysis of the amount of incentive awards
distributed to each State and the rationale for such
distribution, and (2) in the case of a state that has not met
the minimum standard of performance as established by the
Secretary, the Secretary's analysis of the extent and reason
for the state's failure to meet that minimum standard, together
with the state's plan for corrective action during the
succeeding year.
Finally, this section would clarify that National Veterans'
Employment and Training Services Institute should have
authority to provide training for personnel of other
departments or agencies.
Committee to raise employer awareness of skills of veterans
and benefits of hiring veterans. Section 6 would establish
within the Department of Labor a committee to be known as the
President's National Hire Veterans Committee. The Committee's
duties would include (1) furnishing information to employers
with respect to the training and skills of veterans and
disabled veterans and the advantages afforded employers by
hiring veterans with such training and skills, and (2)
facilitating employment of veterans and disabled veterans
through participation in America's Career Kit national labor
exchange and through other means.
The Secretary of Labor would be authorized to appoint 15
individuals to serve as members of the Committee, of whom one
would be appointed from among names submitted by the following
representatives: the Ad Council, the National Committee for
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, veterans' service
organizations that have a national employment program, state
employment security agencies, one-stop career centers, state
departments of veterans affairs, and military service
organizations.
Eight individuals would be appointed from among businesses,
small businesses, industries, companies in the private sector
that furnish placement services, civic groups, Workforce
Investment Boards, and labor unions.
Non-voting ex officio members of the Committee would
include the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of
Defense, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training, the Administrator of the Small
Business Administration, the Postmaster General, and the
Director of the Office of Personnel Management. In the event of
a vacancy on the Committee, the position would be filled in the
manner in which the original appointment was made.
This section would provide as well that the Committee would
meet not less frequently than once each calendar quarter. The
Secretary of Labor would appoint the Chairman of the Committee.
Members of the Committee would serve without compensation, but
would be permitted travel and per diem reimbursement in lieu of
subsistence while away from their homes or regular places of
business in the performance of the responsibilities of the
Committee. The Secretary would provide staff and administrative
support to the Committee to assist it in carrying out its
duties. The Secretary would assure positions on the staff of
the Committee include positions that are filled by individuals
that are now, or have been, employed as one of the following:
(1) staff of the Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment
and Training, (2) Directors or Assistant Directors for
Veterans' Employment and Training, (3) DVOPs, or (4) LVERs.
With respect to administrative support, upon request from
the Committee, the head of any Federal department or agency
would be authorized to detail on a non-reimbursable basis
personnel of that department or agency to the Committee to
assist it in carrying out its duties. The Committee could
contract with and compensate government and private agencies or
persons to furnish information to employers with respect to the
training and skills of veterans and disabled veterans, and the
advantages of hiring veterans.
Not later than December 31 of each year from 2003 to 2005,
the Secretary would be required to submit a report to Congress
on the activities of the Committee for the previous fiscal
year, including data with respect to placement and retention of
veterans in jobs attributable to the activities of the
Committee. The Committee would terminate 60 days after
submitting its final report due on December 31, 2005. This
section would authorize $3 million to be appropriated to the
Secretary of Labor from the employment security administration
account (established in section 901 of the Social Security Act)
of the Unemployment Trust Fund for each of fiscal years 2003
through 2005 for the President's National Hire Veterans
Committee.
Assistant Secretary Juarbe, testifying in support of the
provisions establishing the Committee, stated at the
subcommittee's April 18, 2002, hearing, ``. . . the National
Hire Veterans Committee has the potential to add significant
value to the entire employment and training community.'' Roger
Madsen, Director of the Idaho Job Service, testified at the
same hearing, ``the added influence of our federal partner in
marketing the skills and experience of our veterans is most
welcome.'' Mr. Wesley Poriotis, Chairman of the non-profit
Center for Military and Private-Sector Initiatives, also
testified before the subcommittee on April 18, 2002, that:
What the country needs is a truly forceful diverse
National Hire Veterans Committee that is structured to
include high-level corporate level executive leadership
. . . those with the ``clout'' to open the floodgates
of corporate and business hiring for veterans.
The major task [is] eliminating what is clearly a
pervasive bias of corporate deselection of veterans for
quality employment opportunity at all levels, in all
functions and disciplines and in all industries. This
is especially true for the consumer package goods,
pharmaceutical, retail, financial services, and other
non-defense growth sectors.
Veterans as a class of individuals are vastly under-
employed and are suffering from . . . stereotypes,
myths, and deselective biases leading to artificial
blockage into the corporate sector. . . . With only one
of six Americans under the age of 65 having served in
the military, nearly all of the corporate hiring
managers and their human resources support personnel
had no point of reference about the military, its
leadership, its work ethic, and its resourcefulness to
manage projects from initiation to completion.
The committee recommends that the President's National Hire
Veterans Committee consult the Business Roundtable, the
Corporate Conference Board, the U.S. and State Chamber of
Commerce, the Small Business Association, international
business organizations, and other similar groups. It should
reach out and market veterans as a unique national resource to
the consumer package goods, pharmaceutical, retail, financial
services and other non-defense segments.
Sense of Congress commending veterans and military
organizations. Section 7 would commend veterans and military
service organizations for the continued assistance the
organizations provide veterans; and it would encourage them to
provide job placement assistance to veterans who are job-ready
by making personal computers available through access to
electronic job placement services and programs at local posts
and through other means.
Study on economic benefits to the United States of long-
term sustained employment of veterans. Section 8 would require
the Secretary of Labor to enter into a contract with an
appropriate organization or entity to conduct a study to
quantify the economic benefit to the United States attributable
to the provision of employment and training services under
chapter 41 of title 38, United States Code, in assisting
veterans to attain long-term, sustained employment. The study
would include analyses on the impact of such employment on
federal, state, and local tax revenues generated by reason of
such employment; the contributions of such employment on the
domestic gross national product, and such other indicators of
the effect of such employment on the economy of the United
States. This section would authorize $1,000,000 to be
appropriated for the Secretary to carry out the study and such
sums would remain available until expended. The Secretary would
be required to submit a report on the study not later than 18
months after the date on which the Secretary enters into such
contract.
Section-By-Section Analysis
Section 1(a) of the bill would provide that this Act may be
cited as the ``Jobs for Veterans Act''.
Section 1(b) would provide that unless otherwise expressly
provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is
expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section
or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be
made to a section or other provisions of title 38, United
States Code.
Section 1(c) would set forth the table of contents of this
Act.
Section 2(a)(1) of the bill would amend chapter 42 of title
38, United States Code, by adding a new section: ``Section
4215. Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor
job training programs''.
Section 4215(a)(1) would define as ``covered persons'' for
purposes of priority under this section: (1) a veteran, (2) a
spouse of any of the following individuals, (a) a veteran who
died of a service-connected disability, (b) any member of the
armed forces who, at the time of application for assistance
under this section, is listed, pursuant to section 556 of title
37 and regulations issued thereunder, by the Secretary
concerned in one or more of the following categories and has
been so listed for a total of more than 90 days as (i) missing
in action, (ii) captured in the line of duty by a hostile
force, or (iii) forcibly detained or interned in line of duty
by a foreign government or power, (c) a veteran who has a total
disability resulting from a service-connected disability, or
(d) a veteran who died while a disability so evaluated was in
existence.
Section 4215(a)(2) would define ``qualified job training
program'' as any work force preparation, development, or
delivery program or service that is directly funded, in whole
or in part, by the Department of Labor. Qualified job training
program would include the following: (1) any program or service
that uses technology to assist individuals to access work force
development programs (such as job and training opportunities,
labor market information, career assessment tools, and related
support services); (2) any program or service under the public
employment service system, one-stop career centers, the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998, a demonstration or other
temporary program, and those programs implemented by States or
local service providers based on Federal block grants
administered by the Department of Labor; and (3) any program or
service that is a workforce development program targeted to
specific groups.
Section 4215(a)(3) would define ``priority of service''
with respect to any qualified job training program. A covered
person shall be given priority over non-veterans for the
receipt of employment, training, and placement services
provided under that program, notwithstanding any other
provision of law.
Section 4215(b)(1) would create a new entitlement to
priority of service for covered persons under any qualified job
training program if the person otherwise meets eligibility
requirements for participation in such program.
Section 4215(b)(2) would provide that the Secretary of
Labor may establish priorities among covered persons for
purposes of this section to take into account the needs of
disabled veterans and special disabled veterans, and such other
factors as the Secretary determines appropriate.
Section 4215(c)(1) would require that any entity of a State
or a political subdivision of the State that administers or
delivers services under a qualified job training program shall
provide information and priority of service to covered persons
regarding benefits and services that may be obtained through
other entities or service providers.
Section 4215(c)(2) would ensure that each covered person
who applies to or is assisted by a program is informed of the
employment-related rights and benefits to which the person is
entitled under this section.
Section 4215(d) would insert additional requirements of the
Secretary of Labor for inclusion in the annual report required
under section 4107(c) of title 38, United States Code, for the
program year beginning in 2002. The Secretary shall evaluate
whether covered persons are receiving priority of service and
are being fully served by qualifying job training programs.
Further, the report would evaluate whether the levels of
service of such programs are in proportion to the incidence of
representation of veterans in the labor market, including
within groups that the Secretary may designate for priority
under such programs, if any.
Section 2(b)(1) would amend section 4212(a) of title 38,
United States Code, to require that any contract in the amount
of $100,000 or more entered into by any department or agency of
the United States for the procurement of personal property and
nonpersonal services (including construction) for the United
States, shall contain a provision requiring that the party
contracting with the United States take affirmative action to
employ and advance in employment of qualified covered veterans.
This section applies to any subcontract entered into by a prime
contractor in carrying out any such contract.
Section 4212(a)(2) would require the Secretary of Labor, in
addition to requiring affirmative action to employ such
qualified covered veterans under such contracts and
subcontracts and in order to promote the implementation of such
requirement, to prescribe regulations. Section 4212(a)(2)(A)
would require that these regulations shall require each
contractor for each contract to immediately list all of its
employment openings with the appropriate employment service
delivery system (as defined in section 4101(7) of title 38,
United States Code). Such contractors may also list such
openings with other entities. These entities would include one-
stop career centers under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998,
other appropriate service delivery points, or America's Job
Bank (or any additional or subsequent national electronic job
bank established by the Department of Labor). Contractors may
exclude openings for executive and senior management positions,
which are to be filled from within the contractor's
organization and positions lasting three days or less.
Section 4212(a)(2)(B) would require each employment
delivery system to give qualified covered veterans priority in
referral to employment openings.
Section 4212(a)(2)(C) would require each employment
delivery system to provide a list of employment openings to
States, political subdivisions of States, or any private
entities or organizations under contract to carry out
employment, training, and placement services under chapter 41
of title 38, United States Code.
Section 4212(a)(3)(A) would define a ``covered veteran''
for purposes of federal contracts as a veteran who (1) is
disabled; (2) served on active duty in the Armed Forces during
a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge
has been authorized; (3) while serving on active duty in the
Armed Forces, participated in a United States military
operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded;
or (4) is a recently separated veteran.
Section 4212(a)(3)(B) would define the term ``qualified,''
with respect to an employment position, as having the ability
to perform the essential functions of the position with or
without reasonable accommodation for an individual with a
disability.
Section 2(b)(2) would make conforming and technical changes
to other provisions in chapter 42 of title 38, United States,
Code, to reflect the substantive changes made in section 4212
described above.
Section 2(b)(3) would require that the amendments made by
this subsection shall apply with respect to contracts entered
into on or after the first day of the first month that begins
12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Section 2(c)(1) would amend section 4214(a)(1) to emphasize
the desirability of recruiting veterans into a competent
Federal work force and that veterans constitute a uniquely
qualified recruiting source.
Section 2(c)(2)(A) would amend section 4214(b) by renaming
the ``Veterans' Readjustment Appointment Program'' as the
``Veterans' Recruitment Appointment Program.''
Section 2(c)(2)(B) would amend section 4214(b)(2) by
revising the scope of the Veterans' Recruitment Appointment
Program so that it applies to qualified covered veterans as
that term is defined above in the revisions to section
4212(a)(3).
Section 2(c)(2)(C)(i) through (v) would make technical
amendments to section 4214(b).
Section 2(c)(3)(A) and (B) would make technical amendments
to section 4214(a)(1).
Section 2(c)(3)(C) would amend section 4214(g) (pertaining
to the Department of Veterans Affairs) by substituting
``qualified covered veterans'' for the phrase ``qualified
special disabled veterans and qualified veterans of the Vietnam
era.''
Section 3(a)(1) of the bill would amend chapter 41 of title
38, United States Code, by adding a new section: ``Section 4112
entitled ``Performance incentive awards for quality employment,
training, and placement services''.
Section 4112(a)(1) of title 38, United State Code, would
require the Secretary of Labor to carry out a program,
consistent with the provisions of this section, of performance
incentive awards to States to encourage the improvement and
modernization of employment, training, and placement services
provided under chapter 41 of title 38, United States Code. The
Secretary shall carry out the program through the Assistant
Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training.
Section 4112(a)(2) would require that the Secretary make
performance incentive awards for each program year, beginning
with the program year that begins in fiscal year 2004, with
respect to services provided under chapter 41 of title 38,
United States Code, during the preceding program year.
Section 4112(b) would require that the Secretary establish
criteria for eligibility for performance incentive awards for
purposes of this section in consultation with representatives
of States, political subdivisions of States, and other
providers of employment, training, and placement services under
the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 consistent with the
performance measures established under section 4102A(b)(7) of
title 38, United State Code.
Section 4112(c)(1) would require that the Secretary shall
determine the amount of performance incentive awards in a State
under this section by measuring the performance of the State in
providing employment, training, and placement services
furnished veterans and eligible persons in each State through
employment service delivery systems, through disabled veterans'
outreach program specialists, and through local veterans'
employment representatives during the previous program year
based on the measures of performance established under section
4102A(b)(7).
Section 4112(c)(2)(A) would require that in determining the
amount of performance incentive awards, the Secretary provide
greater amounts to those States which the Secretary determines
furnished, during the preceding fiscal year, the highest
quality employment, training, and placement services based on
measures of performance.
Section 4112(c)(2)(B) would require that the Secretary
provide awards to those States that have made significant
improvements in the delivery of such services, as determined by
the Secretary, but that do not meet criteria under subparagraph
(A).
Section 4112(c)(2)(C) would require the Secretary to
consider the applicable annual unemployment data for the State
and other factors, such as prevailing economic conditions, that
affect performance of individuals providing employment,
training, and placement services in the State.
Section 4112(d) would require that amounts received by a
State under this section be used to hire additional State
veterans employment and training staff; or for such other
purposes related to the provision of employment, placement, and
training services as the Secretary may approve for services
furnished under this chapter to veterans and eligible persons.
Section 4112(e) would require that a performance award be
in addition to amounts made available to a State under section
4102A(b)(5).
Section 4112(f) would allow amounts made in a performance
incentive award under this section to be obligated by the State
during the program year in which the award was received and the
subsequent program year.
Section 4112(g) would require that the Secretary shall
carry out performance incentive awards from amounts
appropriated pursuant to the authorization under section
4106(b)(2) of title 38, United States Code, and restrict the
use of such amounts only to carry out this program.
Section 3(a)(2) would amend the table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 41 of title 38, United States Code,
relating to section 4111.
Section 3(b)(1) and (2) would amend section 4106(b) by
providing that in addition to amounts authorized to be
appropriated for carrying out the ``regular program'' of
employment services, there are authorized to be appropriated to
the Secretary to carry out the program of performance incentive
awards under section 4112 of title 38 the following: $10
million for the program for the program year beginning in
fiscal year 2004; $25 million for the program year beginning in
fiscal year 2005; $50 million for the program year beginning in
fiscal year 2006; $75 million for the program year beginning in
fiscal year 2007; and $100 million for the program year
beginning in fiscal year 2008; and for the program year
beginning during fiscal year 2009 and each subsequent fiscal
year, such sums as are necessary.
Section 4(a)(1) of the bill would amend sections 4102A and
4103 of title 38, United States Code, by adding program
functions to the title.
Section 4102A(a)(1) would restate the duties of the
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training, appointed by the President with the advice and
consent of the Senate. This individual shall formulate and
implement all departmental policies and procedures to carry out
(A) the purposes of this chapter, chapter 42, and chapter 43 of
this title, and (B) all other Department of Labor employment,
unemployment, and training program to the extent they affect
veterans. The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training shall be a veteran.
Section 4102A(a)(2) would restate without substantive
change the existing requirement that the employees of the
Department of Labor administering chapter 43 of this title
shall be administratively and functionally responsible to the
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training (ASVET).
Section 4102A(a)(3)(A) would provide within the Department
of Labor a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment
and Training (DASVET), who shall perform such functions as the
ASVET prescribes, and who shall be a veteran.
Section 4102A(a)(3)(B) would classify the DASVET as a
career Federal civil service position, in which the individual
shall have at least five years of continuous service in the
executive branch immediately preceding appointment as the
DASVET. Further, this section would require for purposes of
determining continuous service of the individual that there
shall be excluded any service by the individual in a position
(1) of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or
policy-advocating character, and (2) in which the individual
served as a non-career appointee in the Senior Executive
Service, as such term is defined in section 3132(a)(7) of title
5, or (3) to which the individual was appointed by the
President.
Section 4102A(b) would require that the Secretary carry out
certain specific program functions.
Section 4102A(b)(1) would require that except as expressly
provided otherwise, the Secretary shall carry out provisions of
this chapter and chapter 43 of title 38, United State Code,
through the ASVET. Further, the Secretary shall administer
through the Assistant Secretary all programs under the
jurisdiction of the Secretary for the provision of employment
and training services designed to meet the needs of all
veterans and persons eligible for services furnished under this
chapter.
Section 4102A(b)(2) would require that to make maximum use
of available resources in meeting such needs, the Secretary
shall encourage all veterans employment and training programs,
and all grantees and contractors under such programs, to enter
into cooperative arrangements with private industry and
business concerns (including small business concerns owned by
veterans or disabled veterans), educational institutions, trade
associations, and labor unions.
Section 4102A(b)(3) would require the Secretary to ensure
that maximum effectiveness and efficiency are achieved in
providing services and assistance to eligible veterans under
all such programs by coordinating and consulting with the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs with respect to (A) programs
conducted under other provisions of this title, with particular
emphasis on coordination of such programs with readjustment
counseling activities carried out under section 1712A of title
38, United States Code, apprenticeship or other on-job training
programs carried out under section 3687 of this title, and
rehabilitation and training activities carried out under
chapter 31 of this title and (B) determinations covering
veteran population in a State.
Section 4102A(b)(4) would require the Secretary to ensure
that employment, training, and placement activities are carried
out in coordination and cooperation with appropriate State
public employment service officials.
Section 4102A(b)(5), subject to subsection (c), would make
available for use in each State by grant or contract such funds
as may be necessary to support--(A) disabled veterans' outreach
program specialists appointed under section 4103(a)(1) of this
title, (B) local veterans' employment representatives assigned
under section 4104(b) of this title, and (C) the reasonable
expenses of such specialists and representatives described in
subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, for training, travel,
supplies, and other business expenses. These would include
travel expenses and per diem for attendance at the National
Veterans' Employment and Training Services Institute
established under section 4109 of this title.
Section 4102A(b)(6) would require the Secretary to monitor
and supervise on a continuing basis the distribution and use of
funds provided for use in the States under paragraph (5).
Section 4102A(b)(7) would establish, and update as
appropriate, a comprehensive performance accountability system
(as described in subsection (f)) and carry out annual
performance reviews of veterans employment, training, and
placement services provided through employment service delivery
systems, through disabled veterans' outreach program
specialists (DVOPs), and through local veterans' employment
representatives (LVERs) in States receiving grants, contracts,
or awards under this chapter.
Section 4102A(c)(1) would require that the distribution of
funds to carry out services furnished by disabled veterans'
outreach program specialists and local veterans' employment
representatives be subject to the continuing supervision and
monitoring of the Secretary and not be governed by the
provisions of any other law, or any regulations prescribed
thereunder, that are inconsistent with this section or sections
4103A or 4104.
Section 4102A(c)(2)(A) would require that a State submit to
the Secretary an application for a grant or contract for
services that contain a plan that describes the manner in which
the State shall furnish employment, training and placement
services required under chapter 41 for the program year. Such
plan would include a description of duties assigned by the
State to disabled veterans' outreach program specialists and
local veterans' employment representatives consistent with the
requirements of sections 4013A and 4104 of this title; the
manner in which disabled veterans' outreach program specialists
and local veterans' employment representatives are to be
integrated in the employment service delivery systems in the
State; the veteran population to be served; and such additional
information as the Secretary may require to make a
determination with respect to awarding a grant or contract to
the State.
Section 4102A(c)(B)(i) would revise, subject to the
provisions of this subparagraph, the methods by which the
Secretary furnishes DVOP and LVER funds to a State. This
section would require the Secretary to make funds available for
a fiscal year and make available to each State with an
application approved by the Secretary, an amount of funding in
proportion to the number of veterans seeking employment using
such criteria as the Secretary may establish in regulation,
including civilian labor force and unemployment data, for the
State on an annual basis. The proportion of funding shall
reflect the ratio of the total number of veterans residing in
the State that are seeking employment, to the total number of
veterans seeking employment in all States.
Section 4102A(c)(B)(ii) would require the Secretary to
phase in over the three fiscal year period that begins on
October 1, 2002, the manner in which amounts are made available
to the States under subsection (b)(5) and this subsection, as
amended by this Act.
Section 4102A(c)(B)(iii) would give the Secretary the
discretionary authority to establish minimum funding levels and
hold-harmless criteria for States in administering funding to
the States.
Section 4102A(c)(3)(A) would provide that when a State has
an entered-employment rate for veterans that the Secretary
determines is deficient for the preceding year, the State would
be required to develop and implement a corrective action plan
that is submitted to the Secretary.
Section 4102A(c)(3)(B) would require the Secretary to
establish in regulations a uniform national threshold entered-
employment rate for a program year by which determinations of
deficiency may be made.
Section 4102A(c)(3)(C) would require that in making such
determinations, the Secretary shall take into account the
applicable annual unemployment data for the State and consider
other factors, such as prevailing economic conditions, that
affect performance of individuals providing employment,
training, and placement services in the State.
Section 4102A(c)(4) would provide that in determining the
terms and conditions of a grant or contract for DVOP and LVER
services, the Secretary must take into account (A) the results
of reviews carried out through the comprehensive performance
accountability system, regarding the performance of the
employment, training, and placements delivery system in each
State; and (B) the monitoring carried out under this section.
Section 4102A(c)(5)(A) and (B) would require that each
grant or contract by which funds are made available to a State
shall contain a provision requiring the recipient of the funds
to comply with the provisions of chapter 41 of title 38, United
States Code; and on an annual basis, notify the Secretary of,
and provide supporting rationale for, each non-veteran who is
employed as a DVOP and LVER for a period in excess of six
months.
Section 4102A(c)(6) would require that each State
coordinate employment, training, and placement services
furnished to veterans and eligible persons under this chapter
with such services furnished with respect to such veterans and
persons under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the
Wagner-Peyser Act.
Section 4102A(d) would require the Assistant Secretary for
Veterans' Employment and Training to promote and monitor
participation of qualified veterans and eligible persons in
employment and training opportunities under title I of the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998, and other federally-funded
employment and training programs.
Section 4102A(e)(1) would retain current law requirements
that the Secretary of Labor assign regional administrators to
each region and that after October 9, 1996, any person assigned
to such position must be a veteran.
Section 4102A(e)(2) would mandate that regional
administrators carry out duties required by the Secretary to
promote employment and reemployment of veterans in the region
involved.
Section 4102A(f)(1) would require the Assistant Secretary
for Veterans' Employment and Training, not later than three
months after enactment, to establish and implement a
comprehensive performance accountability system to measure the
performance of employment service delivery systems, disabled
veterans' outreach program specialists, and local veterans'
employment representatives, providing employment, training, and
placement services in a State.
Section 4102A(f)(2)(A) would require that such standards
and measures shall be consistent with State performance
measures applicable under section 136(b) of the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998.
Section 4102A(f)(2)(b) would require that such standards
and measures be appropriately weighted to provide special
consideration for placement of veterans requiring intensive
services (as defined in section 4101(9) of this title), such as
special disabled and disabled veterans, and veterans who enroll
in readjustment counseling under section 1712A of this title.
Section 4 of the bill would also amend the section heading
of section 4103 to read ``Directors and Assistant Directors for
Veterans' Employment and Training''; additional Federal
Personnel.'
Section 4103(a)(1) would require the Secretary to assign to
each State a representative of VETS to serve as the Director
for Veterans' Employment and Training (DVET) and full-time
Federal clerical or other support personnel to each Director.
Section 4103(a)(2) would require that full-time Federal
clerical or other support personnel assigned to Directors for
Veterans' Employment and Training be appointed in accordance
with the provisions of title 5 governing appointments in the
competitive service and be paid in accordance with the
provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of
title 5.
Section 4103(b)(1) would permit the Secretary to assign as
supervisory personnel such representatives of Veterans'
Employment and Training Service (VETS) as the Secretary
determines appropriate, including Assistant Directors for
Veterans' Employment and Training (ADVETs).
Section 4103(b)(2) would amend items relating to sections
4102A and 4103, respectively, at the beginning of chapter 41 in
title 38, United States Code.
Section 4103(b)(3)(A)(i) would repeal section 4104A.
Section 4103(b)(3)(A)(ii) would amend the sections in
chapter 41 by striking the item related to section 4104A.
Section 4103 (b)(3)(B) would amend section 4107(b) by
substituting ``The Secretary shall establish performance
standards established under section 4102A(f) of this title''
for ``The Secretary shall establish definitive performance
standards''.
Section 4103(b)(4) would require that the amendments made
by this subsection take effect on December 1, 2002, and apply
to appointments made on or after that date.
Section 4(b) would revise the statutorily defined duties of
DVOPs and LVERs.
Section 4(b)(1) would amend section 4103A regarding DVOPs.
Section 4103A(a)(1) would require that subject to the
approval of the Secretary, a State shall employ such full- or
part-time DVOPs and LVERs as the State determines appropriate
and efficient to carry out intensive services under this
chapter to meet the employment needs of eligible veterans with
the following priority in provision of services: special
disabled veterans; other disabled veterans; and other eligible
veterans in accordance with priorities determined by the
Secretary taking into account applicable rates of unemployment
and the employment emphases set forth in chapter 42 of title
38, United States Code.
Section 4103A(a)(2) would require that the Secretary place
maximum emphasis on meeting the employment needs of veterans
who are economically or educationally disadvantaged.
Section 4103A(b) would require that a State, to the maximum
extent practicable, employ qualified veterans to carry out DVOP
services, and that preference to qualified disabled veterans be
given in hiring such specialists.
Section 4(b)(2) would amend section 4104(a) to require that
subject to the approval of the Secretary, a State employ such
full and part-time LVERs as the State determines appropriate
and efficient to carry out employment, training, and placement
services under this chapter.
Section 4104(b)(1) would require as a principal duty, LVERs
conduct outreach to employers in the area to assist veterans in
gaining employment, including conducting seminars and, in
conjunction with employers, conducting job search workshops and
establishing job search groups.
Section 4104(b)(2) would require that a LVER facilitate
employment, training, and placement services furnished to
veterans in a State under the applicable State employment
delivery system.
Section 4104(c) would require that a State, to the extent
practicable, employ qualified veterans to carry out duties of
LVERs.
Section 4104(d) would require that each LVER be
administratively responsible to the manager of the employment
service delivery system and provide reports, not less
frequently than quarterly, to the manager of such office and to
the DVET regarding compliance with Federal law and regulations
with respect to special services and priorities for eligible
veterans and eligible persons.
Section 4(b)(3) would establish an effective date of
December 1, 2002, for this subsection revising duties of DVOPs
and LVERs, and apply to appointments made on or after that
date.
Section 4(c) would require that not later than 18 months
after the date of enactment, the Secretary provide one-stop
services and assistance to eligible veterans and persons
electronically by means of the Internet, as defined in section
231(e)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934, and such other
electronic means to enhance the delivery of such services and
assistance.
Section 4(d)(1) would amend 4106(a) by substituting for the
last sentence: ``Each budget submission with respect to such
funds shall include a separate listing of the amount for the
National Veterans' Employment and Training Services Institute
together with information demonstrating the compliance of such
budget submission with the funding requirements specified in
the preceding sentence.''
Section 4(d)(2) would establish an effective date for the
above provision with respect to NVETSI take effect on the date
of enactment of this Act, and apply to budget submissions for
fiscal year 2004 and each subsequent fiscal year.
Section 4(e)(1) would make conforming amendments to section
4107(c)(5).
Section 4(e)(2) would make a conforming amendment to
section 3117(a)(1)(B) to read ``utilization of employment,
training, and placement services under chapter 41 of this
title.''
Section 5(a)(1)(A) of the bill would amend section 4101 of
title 38, United State Code, by adding at the end a new
paragraph 9 to define the term ``intensive services'' as local
employment and training services of the type described in
section 134(d)(3) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
Section 5(a)(1)(B) would amend section 4102 by substituting
``job and job training intensive service program'' for ``job
and job training counseling service program''.
Section 5(a)(1)(C) would amend section 4106(a) by
substituting ``proper intensive services'' for ``proper
counseling''.
Section 5(a)(1)(D) would amend section 4107(a) by
substituting ``intensive services'' for ``employment counseling
services''.
Section 5(a)(1)(E) would amend section 4107(c)(1)
substituting ``the number who received intensive services'' for
``the number counseled''.
Section 5(a)(1)(F) would amend section 4109(a) by
substituting ``intensive services'' for ``counseling''.
Section 5(a)(2) would provide that the definitions and
reporting changes made in this section to take effect on the
date of enactment of this Act.
Section 5(b)(1)(A) would amend section 4102 to add to the
programs the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training administers those programs to ease the
transition of servicemembers to civilian careers that are
consistent with, or an outgrowth of, the military experience of
the servicemembers.
Section 5(b)(1)(B) would amend section 4102 substituting
``veterans who served on active duty during a war or in a
campaign or expedition for which a campaign has been
authorized'' for ``veterans of the Vietnam era.''
Section 5(b)(2) would provide that the amendments made by
paragraph (1) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
Section 5(c)(1) would amend section 4101(7) to define the
term ``employment service delivery system'' to mean a system at
which or through which labor exchange services, including
employment, training or placement services, are offered in
accordance with the Wagner-Peyser Act.
Section 5(c)(2) would provide that the amendment made by
paragraph (4) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
Section 5(d)(1)(A) would amend section 4107(c)(1), with
respect to the Secretary of Labor's annual report to the
Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House of
Representatives in carrying out employment and training
services to veterans and eligible persons. This section would
repeal the reporting requirement for ``veterans of the Vietnam
era'' and ``eligible persons who registered for assistance
with'' the public employment service system. This section would
add a new reporting requirement to include ``eligible persons,
recently separated veterans (as defined in section 4211(6) of
this title) and servicemembers transitioning to civilian
careers who registered for assistance with, or who are
identified as veterans by'' the public employment system.
Section 5(d)(1)(B) would amend section 4107(c)(2), with
respect to requirements for an annual report by the Secretary,
to substitute ``the rate of entered employment (as determined
in a manner consistent with State performance measures
applicable under section 136(b) of the Workforce Investment Act
of 1998)'' for ``the job placement rate'' the first time it
appears. This section would further substitute ``such rate of
entered employment (as so determined)'' for ``the job placement
rate'' the second time it appears.
Section 5(d)(1)(C) would amend section 4107(c)(4) by
substituting ``section 4212(d)'' for ``sections 4103A and
4104''.
Section 5(d)(1)(D) further would amend section 4107(c) by
adding at the end a new paragraph requiring a report on the
operation during the preceding year of the program of
performance incentive awards for quality employment services
under section 4112 of the title, including an analysis of the
amount of incentives distributed to each State and the rational
for such distribution.
Section 5(d)(1)(E) further would amend section 4107(b) by
substituting for the second sentence the following: ``Not later
than February 1 of each year, the Secretary shall report to the
Committees' on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House of
Representatives on the performance of States and organizations
and entities carrying out employment, training, and placement
services under this chapter, as measured under subsection
(b)(7) of section 4102A of this title. In the case of a State
that the Secretary determines has not met the minimum standard
of performance (established by the Secretary under subsection
(f) of this section), the Secretary shall include an analysis
of the extent and reasons for the State's failure to meet that
minimum standard, together with the State's plan for the
corrective action during the succeeding year.''
Section 5(d)(2) would require that the amendments made by
paragraph (1) shall apply to reports for program years
beginning on or after July 1, 2002.
Section 5(e) would amend section 4109 by adding at the end
a new subsection (c)(1) providing that nothing in this section
be construed as preventing the National Veterans' Employment
and Training Services Institute to enter into contracts or
agreements with departments or agencies of the United States or
of a State, or with other organizations, to carry out training
of personnel of such departments, agencies, or organizations in
the provision of services referred to in subsection (a). This
section would also amend section 4109 to require in (c)(2) that
all proceeds collected by the Institute under such contract or
agreement referred to in paragraph (1) above shall be applied
to the applicable appropriation.
Section 6(a) of the bill would establish within the
Department of Labor a committee to be known as the President's
National Hire Veterans Committee.
Section 6(b) would require that the Committee shall carry
out a national program to: (1) furnish information to employers
with respect to the training and skills of veterans and
disabled veterans and the advantages afforded employers by
hiring veterans with such training and skills, and (2)
facilitate employment of veterans and disabled veterans in
America's Career Kit national labor exchange, and other means.
Section 6(c)(1)(A) and (B) would require the Secretary of
Labor to appoint 15 individuals to serve as members of the
Committee, of whom seven shall be appointed from among
representatives nominated by the following organizations: The
Ad Council, The National Committee for Employer Support of the
Guard and Reserve, veterans' service organizations that have a
national employment program, State employment security
agencies, one-stop career centers, State departments of
veterans affairs, and military service organizations. The
Secretary would be required to appoint eight members from among
representatives nominated by businesses, small businesses,
industries, companies in the private sector that furnish
placement services, civic groups, workforce investment boards,
and labor unions.
Section 6(c)(2) would set forth the following ex officio,
nonvoting members of the Committee: The Secretary of Veterans
Affairs, the Secretary of Defense, the Assistant Secretary of
Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training, the Administrator
of the Small Business Administration, the Postmaster General,
and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.
Section 6(c)(3) would provide that a vacancy in the
Committee be filled in the manner in which the original
appointment was made.
Sections 6(d)(1) through (2)(d)(6) would set forth
Committee's administrative requirements with respect to
frequency of meetings, appointing a chairman, compensation,
reasonable and necessary travel expenses, staffing and
administrative support, non-reimbursable details, and
contracting authority.
Section 6(e) would require the Secretary of Labor to report
annually to Congress, not later than December 31, 2003 through
2005, on the activities of the Committee during the previous
fiscal year, and include in such report data with respect to
placement and retention of veterans in jobs attributable to the
activities of the Committee.
Section 6(f) would require that the Committee terminate 60
days after submitting the report that is due on December 31,
2005.
Section 6(g) would authorize appropriations of $3,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2005 to the Secretary of
Labor from the Employment Security Administration account
(established in section 901 of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1101)) in the Unemployment Trust Fund to carry out the
provisions of section 6.
Section 7 of the bill would provide a sense of the Congress
commending veterans and military service organizations for the
continued assistance they provide veterans, and encourage that
such organizations provide job placement assistance to veterans
who are job-ready by making personal computers available with
access to electronic job placement services and programs
available at local posts and through other means.
Section 8(a) of the bill would require the Secretary of
Labor to enter into a contract with an appropriate organization
or entity to conduct a study on the economic benefits to the
United States attributable to the provisions of services under
chapter 41 in assisting long-term sustained employment of
veterans. This section also specifies the analyses such study
shall include.
Section 8(b) would require that a condition of the contract
under subsection (a) be that the organization submit to the
Secretary of Labor a report on the study conducted by the
organization not later than 18 months after the date on which
that Secretary enters into such contract.
Section 8(c) would authorize $1,000,000 be appropriated to
the Secretary of Labor to carry out the provisions of this
section, such sums to remain available until expended.
Performance Goals and Objectives
The reported bill would authorize performance incentive
awards for, and enhancements in, the delivery of veterans
employment, training, and placement services under laws
administered by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with
chapters 41, 42, and 43 of title 38, United States Code.
Program performance goals and objectives are established in
annual performance plans and are subject to the Committee's
regular oversight.
Statement of Administration's Views
Statement of Frederico Juarbe Jr., Assistant Secretary for Veterans'
Employment and Training, before the Subcommittee on Benefits, Committee
on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, April 18, 2002
Mr. Chairman and Distinguished Members of the Subcommittee:
Thank you for inviting me to testify today on H.R. 4015, the ``Jobs
for Veterans Act.'' This is my first opportunity to appear before this
Subcommittee as the Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and
Training and it is an honor for me.
The Administration is deeply committed to helping our veterans find
high-quality jobs. Our Nation's veterans deserve nothing less than
access to high-quality services in both employment and training. This
Administration understands and deeply appreciates the patriotism,
dedication, skills and experiences veterans bring to the civilian labor
force.
We appreciate the keen interest of this Subcommittee in helping to
move the Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) into the 21st
century by removing many of the statutory roadblocks that have tied us
to the past.
As the Subcommittee is aware, the Administration also has a
proposal for improving employment services for veterans, which will be
introduced in the near future. That proposal reflects the core
principles of competitive, performance-based funding as the best way to
improve services to veterans. The proposal would, on a temporary basis
until such time as the competitive provisions are in place, transfer
administration of the grants programs for the current Disabled Veteran
Outreach Program (DVOP), the Local Veteran Employment Representative
(LVER), and the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) to the
Department of Veterans Affairs. The DVOP and LVER programs would remain
in effect until the Secretary of Veterans Affairs implements a new
program of employment-related services that would require competition,
be results-based, and provide an integrated, seamless continuum of
services to veterans.
We are continuing to review H.R. 4015 and do not presently have a
position on every provision of the bill. However, because the bill has
a number of elements that have similar goals to the Administration's
plan, we can support the intent of a number of aspects of H.R. 4015. I
will now comment on some of the major provisions of H.R. 4015.
The repeal of the statutorily defined duties of DVOP Specialists
and LVERs has long been necessary and would go a long way toward
improving Chapter 41 of Title 38 of the United States Code. This would
provide us, and those delivering services in the respective states,
with needed flexibility and would help provide a renewed focus on the
best ways of achieving the mission and goals of this agency. The
Department of Labor endorses the idea of providing states the
flexibility to deploy resources to secure needed coverage in rural,
remote or underserved areas. Under H.R. 4015, states would be able to
more effectively determine where DVOPs and LVERs should be placed with
the use of half-time DVOPs, similar to half-time LVERs. In our view,
flexibility is critical to making services more accessible to veterans.
Incorporating the expectation of high performance is an essential
component of an effective workforce system. H.R. 4015 provides
incentives not only to those states that provide the highest levels of
performance, but also to those states that show significant
improvements. In addition, the Committee's proposal permits incentive
awards to be used for additional staffing, modernization of service
delivery and pilot projects to test new approaches to enhance services
to America's veterans. We believe that the Administration's bill would
provide stronger incentives for high performance by adding consequences
for poor performance. Our bill also takes a different approach to
modernizing service delivery through pilot projects coordinated at the
national level.
Other positive elements of this bill include the elimination of the
state residency requirement and relief from the application of formula
requirements. Residence and formula requirements have hindered the
deployment of staff in response to workload requirements and deprived
deserving individuals of opportunities for career growth. We believe
that veterans should fill the political and senior-level positions, and
intend to act accordingly, but we note that the legislation should be
amended to provide that the holders of those positions'' should'' be a
veteran, rather than ``shall'' be a veteran. Also, the legislation
should be amended to provide that no person ``should'' rather than
``may'' be appointed as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Veterans' Employment and Training unless the person has five years of
Government service as a career civil servant. As a constitutional
matter, the Congress cannot unduly burden the nomination and
appointment power of the President, in the case of the Assistant
Secretary, and the appointment power of the Secretary, in the case of
the other positions, by substantially restricting the pool of qualified
persons from which the nomination or appointment may be made.
If there is one consistent message that I hear from our state
partners, it is to give the states greater flexibility. The current
staffing grant formula process for the allocation and assignment of
positions does not address the individual requirements of states in
providing services to veterans. Economic and demographic conditions,
including consideration for rural, urban, inner city, and suburban
areas, are just a few of the factors that impact on a state's need to
determine assignment of positions. By removing the current restrictions
on the assignment and types of positions funded by formula, this bill
would allow the states the opportunity to develop service delivery
plans that address their unique needs and situations.
As the Subcommittee knows, the Veterans' Employment and Training
Service will implement new state performance measures that are aligned
with those of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), beginning in July of
this year. This makes it easier for service providers to achieve the
overall national goal of integrating and streamlining employment and
training services through the One-Stop delivery system.
The Subcommittee has recognized the important role employers play
in the employment and training arena by the establishment of the
``President's National Hire Veterans Committee'' in H.R. 4015. The Hire
Veterans Committee would increase employers' awareness of the
advantages of hiring veterans and utilizing their military training to
enhance the employers' workforce. The Hire Veterans Committee also may
be able to help narrow the skill gaps between military and civilian
licensing and certification requirements. In sum, the Hire Veterans
Committee has the potential to add significant value to the entire
employment and training community.
In conclusion, VETS supports bringing Title 38 up to date to meet
the needs of the 21st century veteran and the 21st century workplace.
The Administration commends the Subcommittee on its bipartisan approach
to do that. We look forward to continuing to work with this
Subcommittee on both H.R. 4015 and the Administration's proposal in an
effort to enhance veterans' training and employment.
Thank you again for the opportunity to address these important
issues.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
The following letter was received from the Congressional
Budget Office concerning the cost of the reported bill:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, May 10, 2002.
Hon. Christopher H. Smith
Chairman, Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4015, the Jobs for
Veterans Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Christina
Hawley Sadoti (for federal costs), who can be reached at 226-
2820, and Leo Lex (for the state and local impact), who can be
reached at 226-3220.
Sincerely,
Dan L. Crippen,
Director.
Enclosure.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate May 10, 2002
H.R. 4015, Jobs for Veterans Act, As ordered reported by the House
Committee on Veterans' Affairs on May 9, 2002
Summary
H.R. 4015 would make changes to provisions that govern
federal employment and training programs for veterans, and also
would raise the threshold at which contractors with the federal
government must comply with veterans employment provisions. The
bill also would authorize a new grant program of incentive
awards to states that meet certain performance measures, and
would create a President's National Hire Veterans Committee.
Assuming the appropriation of the amounts authorized in the
bill, CBO estimates that the new provisions would cost $72
million over the 2003-2007 period. This bill would not affect
direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go
procedures would not apply.
H.R. 4015 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
The bill would place new requirements on states that administer
job training and employment programs and receive federal
funding. Consequently, those requirements are conditions of
federal assistance and not intergovernmental mandates. The bill
also would increase funding for veterans employment programs
through new incentive awards to states.
Estimated Cost to the Federal Government
The estimated budgetary impact of H.R. 4015 is shown in the
following table. The cost of this legislation falls within
budget function 700 (veterans benefits and services).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Fiscal Year, in Millions of Dollars
-------------------------------------------------
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Performance Incentive Awards
Authorization Level......................................... 0 10 25 50 75
Estimated Outlays........................................... 0 1 6 19 38
President's National Hire Veterans Committee
Authorization Level......................................... 3 3 3 0 0
Estimated Outlays........................................... 1 3 3 2 0
Department of Labor Study
Authorization Level......................................... 1 0 0 0 0
Estimated Outlays........................................... * 1 0 0 0
Total Changes
Authorization Level..................................... 4 13 28 50 75
Estimated Outlays....................................... 2 5 9 20 38
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes: Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.
* = Less than $500,000.
Basis of Estimate
For this estimate, CBO assumes that H.R. 4015 will be
enacted by September 30, 2002, and that the authorized amounts
will be appropriated for each year. Outlays are based on
historical spending patterns for similar programs.
H.R. 4015 would authorize performance incentive awards for
states to encourage the improvement and modernization of
employment, training, and placement services for veterans. The
bill would authorize appropriations of $10 million in 2004, $25
million in 2005, $50 million in 2006, $75 million in 2007, $100
million in 2008, and such sums as may be necessary for 2009 and
subsequent fiscal years.
In addition, H.R. 4015 would authorize a committee within
the Department of Labor (DOL) to raise employer awareness of
the skills of veterans and of the benefits of hiring veterans.
The bill would authorize $3 million each year for fiscal years
2003 through 2005 for this President's National Hire Veterans
Committee.
H.R. 4015 would authorize the appropriation of $1 million
for DOL to produce a study on the economic benefit to the
United States attributable to providing employment and training
services to veterans.
H.R. 4015 would increase the threshold amount of $25,000 to
$100,000 for contracts under which a contractor must comply
with veterans employment provisions. While the increase in the
threshold could decrease administrative costs to review
contracts, CBO does not estimate any significant impact.
In addition, the legislation would amend the definition of
a covered veteran in the veterans employment provisions of
federal contracts. The bill would add certain post-Vietnam
veterans to be included in the definition of covered veterans.
Although this change would increase administrative costs, CBO
estimates the cost of implementing this provision would be
insignificant.
Pay-as-you-go Considerations: None.
Estimated Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments
H.R. 4015 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined
in UMRA. The bill would place new requirements on states that
administer job training and employment programs and receive
federal funding. Consequently, those requirements are
conditions of federal assistance and not intergovernmental
mandates. The bill also would increase funding for veterans
employment programs through new incentive awards to states.
Estimated Impact on the Private Sector
This bill contains no private-sector mandates as defined in
UMRA.
Estimate prepared by:
Federal Spending: Christina Hawley Sadoti and Matthew
Pickford
Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Leo Lex
Impact on the Private Sector: Ralph Smith
Estimate approved by:
Peter H. Fontaine
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis
Applicability to Legislative Branch
The reported bill would not be applicable to the
legislative branch under the Congressional Accountability Act,
Public Law 104-1, because the bill would only affect certain
Department of Labor programs and recipients.
Statement of Federal Mandates
The reported bill would not establish a federal mandate
under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, Public Law 104-4.
Statement of Constitutional Authority
Pursuant to Article I, section 8 of the United States
Constitution, the reported bill is authorized by Congress'
power ``[T]o provide for the common Defense and general Welfare
of the United States.''
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change
is proposed is shown in roman):
TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
PART III--READJUSTMENT AND RELATED BENEFITS
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 31--TRAINING AND REHABILITATION FOR VETERANS WITH SERVICE-
CONNECTED DISABILITIES
* * * * * * *
Sec. 3117. Employment assistance
(a)(1) * * *
(A) direct placement of such veteran in employment;
[(B) utilization of the services of disabled veterans
outreach program specialists under section 4103A of
this title; and]
(B) utilization of employment, training, and
placement services under chapter 41 of this title; and
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 41--JOB COUNSELING, TRAINING, AND PLACEMENT SERVICE FOR
VETERANS
Sec.
4100. Findings.
* * * * * * *
[4102A. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training; Regional Administrators.
[4103. Directors and Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment and
Training.]
4102A. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training; Program functions; Regional Administrators.
4103. Directors and Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment and
Training; Additional federal personnel.
* * * * * * *
[4104A. Performance of disabled veterans' outreach program
specialists and local veterans' employment representatives.]
* * * * * * *
4112. Performance incentive awards for quality employment, training,
and placement services.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 4101. Definitions
For the purposes of this chapter--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
[(7) The term ``local employment service office''
means a service delivery point which has an intrinsic
management structure and at which employment services
are offered in accordance with the Wagner-Peyser Act.]
(7) The term ``employment service delivery system''
means a service delivery system at which or through
which labor exchange services, including employment,
training, and placement services, are offered in
accordance with the Wagner-Peyser Act.
* * * * * * *
(9) The term ``intensive services'' means local
employment and training services of the type described
in section 134(d)(3) of the Workforce Investment Act of
1998.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 4102. Purpose
The Congress declares as its intent and purpose that there
shall be an effective (1) [job and job training counseling
service program,] job and job training intensive services
program, (2) employment placement service program, and (3) job
training placement service program for eligible veterans and
eligible persons and that, to this end policies and regulations
shall be promulgated and administered by an Assistant Secretary
of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training, established by
section 4102A of this title, through a Veterans' Employment and
Training Service within the Department of Labor, so as to
provide such veterans and persons the maximum of employment and
training opportunities, with priority given to the needs of
disabled veterans [and veterans of the Vietnam era] and
veterans who served on active duty during a war or in a
campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been
authorized through existing programs, coordination and merger
of programs and implementation of new programs[.], including
programs carried out by the Veterans' Employment and Training
Service to implement all efforts to ease the transition of
servicemembers to civilian careers that are consistent with, or
an outgrowth of, the military experience of the servicemembers.
[Sec. 4102A. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training; Regional Administrators
[(a)(1) There is established within the Department of Labor
an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training, appointed by the President by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, who shall be the principal advisor to
the Secretary with respect to the formulation and
implementation of all departmental policies and procedures to
carry out (A) the purposes of this chapter, chapter 42, and
chapter 43 of this title, and (B) all other Department of Labor
employment, unemployment, and training programs to the extent
they affect veterans. The employees of the Department of Labor
administering chapter 43 of this title shall be
administratively and functionally responsible to the Assistant
Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training.
[(2) There shall be within the Department of Labor a Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training. The Deputy Assistant Secretary shall perform such
functions as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training prescribes. The Deputy Assistant
Secretary shall be a veteran.
[(b) The Secretary shall--
[(1) except as expressly provided otherwise, carry
out all provisions of this chapter and chapter 43 of
this title through the Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Veterans' Employment and Training and administer
through such Assistant Secretary all programs under the
jurisdiction of the Secretary for the provision of
employment and training services designed to meet the
needs of disabled veterans, veterans of the Vietnam
era, and all other eligible veterans and eligible
persons;
[(2) in order to make maximum use of available
resources in meeting such needs, encourage all such
programs and all grantees under such programs to enter
into cooperative arrangements with private industry and
business concerns (including small business concerns),
educational institutions, trade associations, and labor
unions;
[(3) ensure that maximum effectiveness and efficiency
are achieved in providing services and assistance to
eligible veterans under all such programs by
coordinating and consulting with the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs with respect to (A) programs conducted
under other provisions of this title, with particular
emphasis on coordination of such programs with
readjustment counseling activities carried out under
section 1712A of this title, apprenticeship or other
on-the-job training programs carried out under section
3687 of this title, and rehabilitation and training
activities carried out under chapter 31 of this title,
and (B) the Veterans' Job Training Act (29 U.S.C. 1721
note);
[(4) ensure that job placement activities are carried
out in coordination and cooperation with appropriate
State public employment service officials;
[(5) subject to subsection (c)(2) of this section,
make available for use in each State, directly or by
grant or contract, such funds as may be necessary (A)
to support (i) disabled veterans' outreach program
specialists appointed under section 4103A(a)(1) of this
title, and (ii) local veterans' employment
representatives assigned under section 4104(b) of this
title, and (B) to support the reasonable expenses of
such specialists and representatives for training,
travel, supplies, and fringe benefits, including travel
expenses and per diem from attendance at the National
Veterans' Employment and Training Services Institute
established under section 4109 of this title;
[(6) monitor and supervise on a continuing basis the
distribution and use of funds provided for use in the
States under paragraph (5) of this subsection; and
[(7) monitor the appointment of disabled veterans'
outreach specialists and the assignment of local
veterans' employment representatives in order to ensure
compliance with the provisions of sections 4103A(a)(1)
and 4104(a)(4), respectively, of this title.
[(c)(1) The distribution and use of funds under subsection
(b)(5) of this section in order to carry out sections 4103A(a)
and 4104(a) of this title shall be subject to the continuing
supervision and monitoring of the Secretary and shall not be
governed by the provisions of any other law, or any regulations
prescribed thereunder, that are inconsistent with this section
or section 4103A or 4104 of this title.
[(2) In determining the terms and conditions of a grant or
contract under which funds are made available in a State in
order to carry out section 4103A or 4104 of this title, the
Secretary shall take into account (A) the results of the
evaluations, carried out pursuant to section 4103(c)(15) of
this title, of the performance of local employment offices in
the State, and (B) the monitoring carried out under this
section.
[(3) Each grant or contract by which funds are made available
in a State shall contain a provision requiring the recipient of
the funds to comply with the provisions of this chapter.
[(d) The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training shall promote and monitor participation
of qualified veterans and eligible persons in employment and
training opportunities under title I of the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998 and other federally funded employment
and training programs.
[(e)(1) The Secretary shall assign to each region for which
the Secretary operates a regional office a representative of
the Veterans' Employment and Training Service to serve as the
Regional Administrator for Veterans' Employment and Training in
such region. A person may not be assigned after October 9,
1996, as such a Regional Administrator unless the person is a
veteran.
[(2) Each such Regional Administrator shall be responsible
for--
[(A) ensuring the promotion, operation, and
implementation of all veterans' employment and training
programs and services within the region;
[(B) monitoring compliance with section 4212 of this
title with respect to veterans' employment under
Federal contracts within the region;
[(C) protecting and advancing veterans' reemployment
rights within the region; and
[(D) coordinating, monitoring, and providing
technical assistance on veterans' employment and
training programs with respect to all entities
receiving funds under grants from or contracts with the
Department of Labor within the region.
[Sec. 4103. Directors and Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment
and Training
[(a) The Secretary shall assign to each State a
representative of the Veterans' Employment Service to serve as
the Director for Veterans' Employment and Training, and shall
assign full-time Federal clerical or other support personnel to
each such Director. The Secretary shall also assign to each
State one Assistant Director for Veterans' Employment and
Training per each 250,000 veterans and eligible persons of the
State veterans population and such additional Assistant
Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training as the
Secretary shall determine, based on the data collected pursuant
to section 4107 of this title, to be necessary to assist the
Director for Veterans' Employment and Training to carry out
effectively in that State the purposes of this chapter. Full-
time Federal clerical or other support personnel assigned to
Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training shall be
appointed in accordance with the provisions of title 5
governing appointments in the competitive service and shall be
paid in accordance with the provisions of chapter 51 and
subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5.
[(b)(1)(A) Each Director for Veterans' Employment and
Training and Assistant Director for Veterans' Employment and
Training (i) shall, except as provided in subparagraph (B) of
this paragraph, be a qualified veteran who at the time of
appointment has been a bona fide resident of the State for at
least two years, and (ii) shall be appointed in accordance with
the provisions of title 5 governing appointments in the
competitive service and shall be paid in accordance with the
provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of
title 5.
[(B) If, in appointing a Director or Assistant Director for
any State under this section, the Secretary determines that
there is no qualified veteran available who meets the residency
requirement in subparagraph (A)(i), the Secretary may appoint
as such Director or Assistant Director any qualified veteran.
[(2) Each Director for Veterans' Employment and Training and
Assistant Director for Veterans' Employment and Training shall
be attached to the public employment service system of the
State to which they are assigned. They shall be
administratively responsible to the Secretary for the execution
of the veterans' and eligible persons' counseling and placement
policies of the Secretary through the public employment service
system and in cooperation with other employment and training
programs administered by the Secretary by grantees of Federal
or federally funded employment and training programs in the
State, or directly by the State.
[(c) In cooperation with the staff of the public employment
service system and the staffs of each such other program in the
State, the Director for Veterans' Employment and Training and
Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training
shall--
[(1)(A) functionally supervise the provision of
services to eligible veterans and eligible persons by
such system and such program and their staffs, and (B)
be functionally responsible for the supervision of the
registration of eligible veterans and eligible persons
in local employment offices for suitable types of
employment and training and for counseling and
placement of eligible veterans and eligible persons in
employment and job training programs, including the
program conducted under the Veterans' Job Training Act
(Public Law 98-77; 29 U.S.C. 1721 note);
[(2) engage in job development and job advancement
activities for eligible veterans and eligible persons,
including maximum coordination with appropriate
officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs in that
agency's carrying out of its responsibilities under
subchapter II of chapter 77 of this title and in the
conduct of job fairs, job marts, and other special
programs to match eligible veterans and eligible
persons with appropriate job and job training
opportunities and otherwise to promote the employment
of eligible veterans and eligible persons;
[(3) assist in securing and maintaining current
information as to the various types of available
employment and training opportunities, including
maximum use of electronic data processing and
telecommunications systems and the matching of an
eligible veteran's or an eligible person's particular
qualifications with an available job or on-job training
or apprenticeship opportunity which is commensurate
with those qualifications;
[(4) promote the interest of employers and labor
unions in employing eligible veterans and eligible
persons and in conducting on-job training and
apprenticeship programs for such veterans and persons;
[(5) maintain regular contact with employers, labor
unions, training programs and veterans' organizations
with a view to keeping them advised of eligible
veterans and eligible persons available for employment
and training and to keeping eligible veterans and
eligible persons advised of opportunities for
employment and training;
[(6) promote and facilitate the participation of
veterans in Federal and federally funded employment and
training programs and directly monitor the
implementation and operation of such programs to ensure
that eligible veterans, veterans of the Vietnam era,
disabled veterans, and eligible persons receive such
priority or other special consideration in the
provision of services as is required by law or
regulation;
[(7) assist in every possible way in improving
working conditions and the advancement of employment of
eligible veterans and eligible persons;
[(8) supervise the listing of jobs and subsequent
referrals of qualified veterans as required by section
4212 of this title;
[(9) be responsible for ensuring that complaints of
discrimination filed under such section are resolved in
a timely fashion;
[(10) working closely with appropriate Department of
Veterans Affairs personnel engaged in providing
counseling or rehabilitation services under chapter 31
of this title, cooperate with employers to identify
disabled veterans who have completed or are
participating in a vocational rehabilitation training
program under such chapter and who are in need of
employment;
[(11) cooperate with the staff of programs operated
under section 1712A of this title in identifying and
assisting veterans who have readjustment problems and
who may need employment placement assistance or
vocational training assistance; and
[(12) when requested by a Federal or State agency or
a private employer, assist such agency or employer in
identifying and acquiring prosthetic and sensory aids
and devices which tend to enhance the employability of
disabled veterans;
[(13) monitor the implementation of Federal laws
requiring veterans preference in employment and job
advancement opportunities within the Federal Government
and report to the Office of Personnel Management or
other appropriate agency, for enforcement or other
remedial action, any evidence of failure to provide
such preference or to provide priority or other special
consideration in the provision of services to veterans
as is required by law or regulation;
[(14) monitor, through disabled veterans' outreach
program specialists and local veterans' employment
representatives, the listing of vacant positions with
State employment agencies by Federal agencies, and
report to the Office of Personnel Management or other
appropriate agency, for enforcement or other remedial
action, any evidence of failure to provide priority or
other special consideration in the provision of
services to veterans as is required by law or
regulation; and
[(15)(A) not less frequently than annually, conduct,
subject to subclause (B) of this clause, an evaluation
at each local employment office of the services
provided to eligible veterans and eligible persons and
make recommendations for corrective action as
appropriate; and
[(B) carry out such evaluations in the following
order of priority: (I) offices that demonstrated less
than satisfactory performance during either of the two
previous program years, (II) offices with the largest
number of veterans registered during the previous
program year, and (III) other offices as resources
permit.]
Sec. 4102A. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training; program functions; Regional
Administrators
(a) Establishment of Position of Assistant Secretary of Labor
for Veterans' Employment and Training.--(1) There is
established within the Department of Labor an Assistant
Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training,
appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate, who shall formulate and implement all
departmental policies and procedures to carry out (A) the
purposes of this chapter, chapter 42, and chapter 43 of this
title, and (B) all other Department of Labor employment,
unemployment, and training programs to the extent they affect
veterans. The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training shall be a veteran.
(2) The employees of the Department of Labor administering
chapter 43 of this title shall be administratively and
functionally responsible to the Assistant Secretary of Labor
for Veterans' Employment and Training.
(3)(A) There shall be within the Department of Labor a Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training. The Deputy Assistant Secretary shall perform such
functions as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training prescribes. The Deputy Assistant
Secretary shall be a veteran.
(B) No individual may be appointed as a Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training unless
the individual has at least five years of continuous service in
the Federal civil service in the executive branch immediately
preceding appointment as the Deputy Assistant Secretary. For
purposes of determining such continuous service of an
individual, there shall be excluded any service by the
individual in a position--
(i) of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-
making, or policy-advocating character;
(ii) in which the individual served as a noncareer
appointee in the Senior Executive Service, as such term
is defined in section 3132(a)(7) of title 5; or
(iii) to which the individual was appointed by the
President.
(b) Program Functions.--The Secretary shall carry out the
following functions:
(1) Except as expressly provided otherwise, carry out
all provisions of this chapter and chapter 43 of this
title through the Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Veterans' Employment and Training and administer
through such Assistant Secretary all programs under the
jurisdiction of the Secretary for the provision of
employment and training services designed to meet the
needs of all veterans and persons eligible for services
furnished under this chapter.
(2) In order to make maximum use of available
resources in meeting such needs, encourage all such
programs, and all grantees and contractors under such
programs to enter into cooperative arrangements with
private industry and business concerns (including small
business concerns owned by veterans or disabled
veterans), educational institutions, trade
associations, and labor unions.
(3) Ensure that maximum effectiveness and efficiency
are achieved in providing services and assistance to
eligible veterans under all such programs by
coordinating and consulting with the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs with respect to (A) programs conducted
under other provisions of this title, with particular
emphasis on coordination of such programs with
readjustment counseling activities carried out under
section 1712A of this title, apprenticeship or other
on-the-job training programs carried out under section
3687 of this title, and rehabilitation and training
activities carried out under chapter 31 of this title
and (B) determinations covering veteran population in a
State.
(4) Ensure that employment, training, and placement
activities are carried out in coordination and
cooperation with appropriate State public employment
service officials.
(5) Subject to subsection (c), make available for use
in each State by grant or contract such funds as may be
necessary to support--
(A) disabled veterans' outreach program
specialists appointed under section 4103A(a)(1)
of this title,
(B) local veterans' employment
representatives assigned under section 4104(b)
of this title, and
(C) the reasonable expenses of such
specialists and representatives described in
subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, for
training, travel, supplies, and other business
expenses, including travel expenses and per
diem for attendance at the National Veterans'
Employment and Training Services Institute
established under section 4109 of this title.
(6) Monitor and supervise on a continuing basis the
distribution and use of funds provided for use in the
States under paragraph (5).
(7) Establish, and update as appropriate, a
comprehensive performance accountability system (as
described in subsection (f)) and carry out annual
performance reviews of veterans employment, training,
and placement services provided through employment
service delivery systems, through disabled veterans'
outreach program specialists, and through local
veterans' employment representatives in States
receiving grants, contracts, or awards under this
chapter.
(c) Conditions for Receipt of Funds.--(1) The distribution
and use of funds under subsection (b)(5) in order to carry out
sections 4103A(a) and 4104(a) of this title shall be subject to
the continuing supervision and monitoring of the Secretary and
shall not be governed by the provisions of any other law, or
any regulations prescribed thereunder, that are inconsistent
with this section or section 4103A or 4104 of this title.
(2)(A) A State shall submit to the Secretary an application
for a grant or contract under subsection (b)(5). The
application shall contain the following information:
(i) A plan that describes the manner in which the
State shall furnish employment, training, and placement
services required under this chapter for the program
year, including a description of--
(I) duties assigned by the State to disabled
veterans' outreach program specialists and
local veterans' employment representatives
consistent with the requirements of sections
4103A and 4104 of this title; and
(II) the manner in which such specialists and
representatives are integrated in the
employment service delivery systems in the
State.
(ii) The veteran population to be served.
(iii) Such additional information as the Secretary
may require to make a determination with respect to
awarding a grant or contract to the State.
(B)(i) Subject to the succeeding provisions of this
subparagraph, of the amount available under subsection (b)(5)
for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall make available to each
State with an application approved by the Secretary an amount
of funding in proportion to the number of veterans seeking
employment using such criteria as the Secretary may establish
in regulation, including civilian labor force and unemployment
data, for the State on an annual basis. The proportion of
funding shall reflect the ratio of--
(I) the total number of veterans residing in the
State that are seeking employment; to
(II) the total number of veterans seeking employment
in all States.
(ii) The Secretary shall phase in over the three fiscal-year
period that begins on October 1, 2002, the manner in which
amounts are made available to States under subsection (b)(5)
and this subsection, as amended by the Jobs for Veterans Act.
(iii) In carrying out this paragraph, the Secretary may
establish minimum funding levels and hold-harmless criteria for
States.
(3)(A) As a condition of a grant or contract under this
section for a program year, in the case of a State that the
Secretary determines has an entered-employment rate for
veterans that is deficient for the preceding program year, the
State shall develop and implement a corrective action plan to
improve that rate for veterans in the State. The State shall
submit the corrective action plan to the Secretary.
(B) To carry out subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall
establish in regulations a uniform national threshold entered-
employment rate for veterans for a program year by which
determinations of deficiency may be made under subparagraph
(A).
(C) In making a determination with respect to a deficiency
under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall take into account
the applicable annual unemployment data for the State and
consider other factors, such as prevailing economic conditions,
that affect performance of individuals providing employment,
training, and placement services in the State.
(4) In determining the terms and conditions of a grant or
contract under which funds are made available to a State in
order to carry out section 4103A or 4104 of this title, the
Secretary shall take into account--
(A) the results of reviews, carried out pursuant to
subsection (b)(7), of the performance of the
employment, training, and placement service delivery
system in the State, and
(B) the monitoring carried out under this section.
(5) Each grant or contract by which funds are made available
to a State shall contain a provision requiring the recipient of
the funds--
(A) to comply with the provisions of this chapter;
and
(B) on an annual basis, to notify to Secretary of,
and provide supporting rationale for, each nonveteran
who is employed as a disabled veterans' outreach
program specialist and local veterans' employment
representative for a period in excess of 6 months.
(6) Each State shall coordinate employment, training, and
placement services furnished to veterans and eligible persons
under this chapter with such services furnished with respect to
such veterans and persons under the Workforce Investment Act of
1998 and the Wagner-Peyser Act.
(d) Participation in Other Federally Funded Job Training
Programs.--The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training shall promote and monitor participation
of qualified veterans and eligible persons in employment and
training opportunities under title I of the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998 and other federally funded employment
and training programs.
(e) Regional Administrators.--(1) The Secretary shall assign
to each region for which the Secretary operates a regional
office a representative of the Veterans' Employment and
Training Service to serve as the Regional Administrator for
Veterans' Employment and Training in such region. A person may
not be assigned after October 9, 1996, as such a Regional
Administrator unless the person is a veteran.
(2) Each such Regional Administrator shall carry out such
duties as the Secretary may require to promote veterans
employment and reemployment within the region that the
Administrator serves.
(f) Establishment of Performance Standards and Outcomes
Measures.--(1) By not later than 3 months after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Veterans' Employment and Training shall establish and implement
a comprehensive performance accountability system to measure
the performance of employment service delivery systems,
disabled veterans' outreach program specialists, and local
veterans' employment representatives providing employment,
training, and placement services under this chapter in a State
to provide accountability of that State to the Secretary for
purposes of subsection (c).
(2) Such standards and measures shall--
(A) be consistent with State performance measures
applicable under section 136(b) of the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998; and
(B) be appropriately weighted to provide special
consideration for placement of (i) veterans requiring
intensive services (as defined in section 4101(9) of
this title), such as special disabled veterans and
disabled veterans, and (ii) veterans who enroll in
readjustment counseling under section 1712A of this
title.
Sec. 4103. Directors and Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment
and Training; Additional Federal personnel
(a) Directors and Assistant Directors.--(1) The Secretary
shall assign to each State a representative of the Veterans'
Employment and Training Service to serve as the Director for
Veterans' Employment and Training, and shall assign full-time
Federal clerical or other support personnel to each such
Director.
(2) Full-time Federal clerical or other support personnel
assigned to Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training
shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions of title 5
governing appointments in the competitive service and shall be
paid in accordance with the provisions of chapter 51 and
subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5.
(b) Additional Federal Personnel.--The Secretary may also
assign as supervisory personnel such representatives of the
Veterans' Employment and Training Service as the Secretary
determines appropriate to carry out the employment, training,
and placement services required under this chapter, including
Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training.
Sec. 4103A. Disabled veterans' outreach program
[(a)(1) The amount of funds made available for use in a State
under section 4102A(b)(5)(A)(i) of this title shall be
sufficient to support the appointment of one disabled veterans'
outreach program specialist for each 7,400 veterans who are
between the ages of 20 and 64 residing in such State. Each such
specialist shall be a qualified veteran. Preference shall be
given in the appointment of such specialists to qualified
disabled veterans. If the Secretary finds that no qualified
disabled veteran is available for such appointment, such
appointment may be given to any qualified veteran. Each such
specialist shall be compensated at rates comparable to those
paid other professionals performing essentially similar duties
in the State government of the State concerned.
[(2) Specialists appointed pursuant to this subsection shall
be in addition to and shall not supplant employees assigned to
local employment service offices pursuant to section 4104 of
this title.
[(b)(1) Pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Secretary
of Labor, disabled veterans' outreach program specialists shall
be assigned only those duties directly related to meeting the
employment needs of eligible veterans, with priority for the
provision of services in the following order:
[(A) Services to special disabled veterans.
[(B) Services to other disabled veterans.
[(C) Services to other eligible veterans in
accordance with priorities determined by the Secretary
taking into account applicable rates of unemployment
and the employment emphases set forth in chapter 42 of
this title.
In the provision of services in accordance with this paragraph,
maximum emphasis in meeting the employment needs of veterans
shall be placed on assisting economically or educationally
disadvantaged veterans.
[(2) Not more than three-fourths of the disabled veterans'
outreach program specialists in each State shall be stationed
at local employment service offices in such State. The
Secretary, after consulting the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
and the Director for Veterans' Employment and Training assigned
to a State under section 4103 of this title, may waive the
limitation in the preceding sentence for that State so long as
the percentage of all disabled veterans' outreach program
specialists that are stationed at local employment service
offices in all States does not exceed 80 percent. Specialists
not so stationed shall be stationed at centers established by
the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide a program of
readjustment counseling pursuant to section 1712A of this
title, veterans assistance offices established by the
Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to section 7723 of this
title, and such other sites as may be determined to be
appropriate in accordance with regulations prescribed by the
Secretary after consultation with the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs.
[(c) Each disabled veterans' outreach program specialist
shall carry out the following functions for the purpose of
providing services to eligible veterans in accordance with the
priorities set forth in subsection (b) of this section:
[(1) Development of job and job training
opportunities for such veterans through contacts with
employers, especially small- and medium-size private
sector employers.
[(2) Pursuant to regulations prescribed by the
Secretary after consultation with the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs, promotion and development of
apprenticeship and other on-job training positions
pursuant to section 3687 of this title.
[(3) The carrying out of outreach activities to
locate such veterans through contacts with local
veterans organizations, the Department of Veterans
Affairs, the State employment service agency and local
employment service offices, and community-based
organizations.
[(4) Provision of appropriate assistance to
community-based groups and organizations and
appropriate grantees under other Federal and federally
funded employment and training programs including
including title I of the Workforce Investment Act of
1998 in providing services to such veterans.
[(5) Provision of appropriate assistance to local
employment service office employees with responsibility
for veterans in carrying out their responsibilities
pursuant to this chapter.
[(6) Consultation and coordination with other
appropriate representatives of Federal, State, and
local programs (including the program conducted under
the Veterans' Job Training Act (Public Law 98-77; 29
U.S.C. 1721 note)) for the purpose of developing
maximum linkages to promote employment opportunities
for and provide maximum employment assistance to such
veterans.
[(7) The carrying out of such other duties as will
promote the development of entry-level and career job
opportunities for such veterans.
[(8) Development of outreach programs in cooperation
with appropriate Department of Veterans Affairs
personnel engaged in providing counseling or
rehabilitation services under chapter 31 of this title,
with educational institutions, and with employers in
order to ensure maximum assistance to disabled veterans
who have completed or are participating in a vocational
rehabilitation program under such chapter.
[(9) Provision of vocational guidance or vocational
counseling services, or both, to veterans with respect
to veterans' selection of and changes in vocations and
veterans' vocational adjustment.
[(10) Provision of services as a case manager under
section 14(b)(1)(A) of the Veterans' Job Training Act
(Public Law 98-77; 29 U.S.C. 1721 note).
[(11) Coordination of employment services with
training assistance provided to veterans by entities
receiving funds under section 2021 of this title.]
(a) Requirement for Employment by States of a Sufficient
Number of Specialists.--(1) Subject to approval by the
Secretary, a State shall employ such full- or part-time
disabled veterans' outreach program specialists as the State
determines appropriate and efficient to carry out intensive
services under this chapter to meet the employment needs of
eligible veterans with the following priority in the provision
of services:
(A) Special disabled veterans.
(B) Other disabled veterans.
(C) Other eligible veterans in accordance with
priorities determined by the Secretary taking into
account applicable rates of unemployment and the
employment emphases set forth in chapter 42 of this
title.
(2) In the provision of services in accordance with this
subsection, maximum emphasis in meeting the employment needs of
veterans shall be placed on assisting economically or
educationally disadvantaged veterans.
(b) Requirement for Qualified Veterans.--A State shall, to
the maximum extent practicable, employ qualified veterans to
carry out the services referred to in subsection (a).
Preference shall be given in the appointment of such
specialists to qualified disabled veterans.
Sec. 4104. Local veterans' employment representatives
[(a)(1) For any fiscal year, the total of the amount of funds
made available for use in the States under section
4102A(b)(5)(A)(ii) of this title shall be sufficient to support
the appointment of 1,600 full-time local veterans' employment
representatives and the States' administrative expenses
associated with the appointment of that number of such
representatives and shall be allocated to the several States so
that each State receives funding sufficient to support--
[(A) the number of such representatives who were
assigned in such State on January 1, 1987, for which
funds were provided under this chapter, plus one
additional such representative;
[(B) the percentage of the 1,600 such representatives
for which funding is not provided under subparagraph
(A) of this paragraph which is equal to the average of
(i) the percentage of all veterans residing in the
United States who reside in such State, (ii) the
percentage of the total of all eligible veterans and
eligible persons registered for assistance with local
employment service offices in the United States who are
registered for assistance with local employment service
offices in such State, and (iii) the percentage of all
full-service local employment service offices in the
United States which are located in such State; and
[(C) the State's administrative expenses associated
with the appointment of the number of such
representatives for which funding is allocated to the
State under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this
paragraph.
[(2)(A) The local veterans' employment representatives
allocated to a State pursuant to paragraph (1) of this
subsection shall be assigned by the administrative head of the
employment service in the State, after consultation with the
Director for Veterans' Employment and Training for the State,
so that as nearly as practical (i) one full-time representative
is assigned to each local employment service office at which at
least 1,100 eligible veterans and eligible persons are
registered for assistance, (ii) one additional full-time
representative is assigned to each local employment service
office for each 1,500 eligible veterans and eligible persons
above 1,100 who are registered at such office for assistance,
and (iii) one half-time representative is assigned to each
local employment service office at which at least 350 but less
than 1,100 eligible veterans and eligible persons are
registered for assistance.
[(B) In the case of a service delivery point (other than a
local employment service office described in subparagraph (A)
of this paragraph) at which employment services are offered
under the Wagner-Peyser Act, the head of such service delivery
point shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with the
provisions of this title providing for priority services for
veterans and priority referral of veterans to Federal
contractors.
[(3) For the purposes of this subsection, an individual shall
be considered to be registered for assistance with a local
employment service office during a program year if the
individual--
[(A) registered, or renewed such individual's
registration, for assistance with the office during
that program year; or
[(B) so registered or renewed such individual's
registration during a previous program year and, in
accordance with regulations which the Secretary shall
prescribe, is counted as still being registered for
administrative purposes.
[(4) In the appointment of local veterans' employment
representatives, preference shall be given to qualified
eligible veterans or eligible persons. Preference shall be
accorded first to qualified service-connected disabled
veterans; then, if no such disabled veteran is available, to
qualified eligible veterans; and, if no such eligible veteran
is available, then to qualified eligible persons.
[(b) Local veterans' employment representatives shall perform
the following functions:
[(1) Functionally supervise the providing of services
to eligible veterans and eligible persons by the local
employment service staff.
[(2) Maintain regular contact with community leaders,
employers, labor unions, training programs, and
veterans' organizations for the purpose of (A) keeping
them advised of eligible veterans and eligible persons
available for employment and training, and (B) keeping
eligible veterans and eligible persons advised of
opportunities for employment and training.
[(3) Provide directly, or facilitate the provision
of, labor exchange services by local employment service
staff to eligible veterans and eligible persons,
including intake and assessment, counseling, testing,
job-search assistance, and referral and placement.
[(4) Encourage employers and labor unions to employ
eligible veterans and eligible persons and conduct on-
the-job training and apprenticeship programs for such
veterans and persons.
[(5) Promote and monitor the participation of
veterans in federally funded employment and training
programs, monitor the listing of vacant positions with
State employment agencies by Federal agencies, and
report to the Director for Veterans' Employment and
Training for the State concerned any evidence of
failure to provide priority or other special
consideration in the provision of services to veterans
as is required by law or regulation.
[(6) Monitor the listing of jobs and subsequent
referrals of qualified veterans as required by section
4212 of this title.
[(7) Work closely with appropriate Department of
Veterans Affairs personnel engaged in providing
counseling or rehabilitation services under chapter 31
of this title, and cooperate with employers in
identifying disabled veterans who have completed or are
participating in a vocational rehabilitation training
program under such chapter and who are in need of
employment.
[(8) Refer eligible veterans and eligible persons to
training, supportive services, and educational
opportunities, as appropriate.
[(9) Assist, through automated data processing, in
securing and maintaining current information regarding
available employment and training opportunities.
[(10) Cooperate with the staff of programs operated
under section 1712A of this title in identifying and
assisting veterans who have readjustment problems and
who may need services available at the local employment
service office.
[(11) When requested by a Federal or State agency, a
private employer, or a service-connected disabled
veteran, assist such agency, employer, or veteran in
identifying and acquiring prosthetic and sensory aids
and devices needed to enhance the employability of
disabled veterans.
[(12) Facilitate the provision of guidance or
counseling services, or both, to veterans who, pursuant
to section 5(b)(3) of the Veterans' Job Training Act
(29 U.S.C. 1721 note), are certified as eligible for
participation under such Act; and
[(13) coordinate employment services with training
assistance provided to veterans by entities receiving
funds under section 2021 of this title.
[(c) Each local veterans' employment representative shall be
administratively responsible to the manager of the local
employment service office and shall provide reports, not less
frequently than quarterly, to the manager of such office and to
the Director for Veterans' Employment and Training for the
State regarding compliance with Federal law and regulations
with respect to special services and priorities for eligible
veterans and eligible persons.]
(a) Requirement for Employment by States of a Sufficient
Number of Representatives.--Subject to approval by the
Secretary, a State shall employ such full- and part-time local
veterans' employment representatives as the State determines
appropriate and efficient to carry out employment, training,
and placement services under this chapter.
(b) Principal Duties.--As principal duties, local veterans'
employment representatives shall--
(1) conduct outreach to employers in the area to
assist veterans in gaining employment, including
conducting seminars for employers and, in conjunction
with employers, conducting job search workshops and
establishing job search groups; and
(2) facilitate employment, training, and placement
services furnished to veterans in a State under the
applicable State employment service delivery systems.
(c) Preference for Qualified Veterans.--A State shall, to the
maximum extent practicable, employ qualified veterans to carry
out the services referred to in subsection (a).
(d) Reporting.--Each local veterans' employment
representative shall be administratively responsible to the
manager of the employment service delivery system and shall
provide reports, not less frequently than quarterly, to the
manager of such office and to the Director for Veterans'
Employment and Training for the State regarding compliance with
Federal law and regulations with respect to special services
and priorities for eligible veterans and eligible persons.
[Sec. 4104A. Performance of disabled veterans' outreach program
specialists and local veterans' employment
representatives
[(a)(1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, each
State employment agency shall develop and apply standards for
the performance of disabled veterans' outreach program
specialists appointed under section 4103A(a) of this title and
local veterans' employment representatives assigned under
section 4104(b) of this title.
[(2)(A) Such standards shall be consistent with the duties
and functions specified in section 4103A(b) of this title with
respect to such specialists and section 4104(b)(1) through (12)
of this title with respect to such representatives.
[(B) In developing such standards, the State employment
agency--
[(i) shall take into account (I) the prototype
developed under paragraph (3) of this subsection, and
(II) the comments submitted under clause (ii) of this
subparagraph by the Director for Veterans' Employment
and Training for the State;
[(ii) shall submit to such Director proposed
standards for comment;
[(iii) may take into account the State's personnel
merit system requirements and other local circumstances
and requirements; and
[(iv) may request the assistance of such Director.
[(C) Such standards shall include as one of the measures of
the performance of such a specialist the extent to which the
specialist, in serving as a case manager under section
14(b)(1)(A) of the Veterans' Job Training Act (29 U.S.C. 1721
note), facilitates rates of successful completion of training
by veterans participating in programs of job training under the
Act.
[(3)(A) The Secretary, after consultation with State
employment agencies or their representatives, or both, shall
provide to such agencies a prototype of performance standards
for use by such agencies in the development of performance
standards under subsection (a)(1) of this section.
[(B) Each Director for Veterans' Employment and Training--
[(i) shall, upon the request of the State employment
agency under paragraph (2)(B)(iv) of this subsection,
provide appropriate assistance in the development of
performance standards,
[(ii) may, within 30 days after receiving proposed
standards under paragraph (2)(B)(ii) of this
subsection, provide comments on the proposed standards,
particularly regarding the consistency of the proposed
standards with such prototype.
[(b)(1) Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training and
Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training shall
regularly monitor the performance of the specialists and
representatives referred to in subsection (a)(1) of this
section through the application of the standards required to be
prescribed by subsection (a)(1).
[(2) A Director for Veterans' Employment and Training for a
State may submit to the head of the employment service in the
State recommendations and comments in connection with each
annual performance rating of such specialists and
representatives in the State.]
* * * * * * *
Sec. 4106. Estimate of funds for administration; authorization of
appropriations
(a) The Secretary shall estimate the funds necessary for the
proper and efficient administration of this chapter and
chapters 42 and 43 of this title. Such estimated sum shall
include the annual amounts necessary for salaries, rents,
printing and binding, travel, and communications. Sums thus
estimated shall be included as a special item in the annual
budget for the Department of Labor. Estimated funds necessary
for [proper counseling] proper intensive services, placement,
and training services to eligible veterans and eligible persons
provided by the various State public employment service
agencies shall each be separately identified in the budgets of
those agencies as approved by the Department of Labor. Funds
estimated pursuant to the first sentence of this subsection
shall include amounts necessary in all of the States for the
purposes specified in paragraph (5) of section 4102A(b) of this
title and to fund the National Veterans' Employment and
Training Services Institute under section 4109 of this title
and shall be approved by the Secretary only if the level of
funding proposed is in compliance with such sections. [Each
budget submission with respect to such funds shall include
separate listings of the amount for the National Veterans'
Employment and Training Services Institute and of the proposed
numbers, by State, of disabled veterans' outreach program
specialists appointed under section 4103A of this title and
local veterans' employment representatives assigned under
section 4104 of this title, together with information
demonstrating the compliance of such budget submission with the
funding requirements specified in the preceding sentence.] Each
budget submission with respect to such funds shall include a
separate listing of the amount for the National Veterans'
Employment and Training Services Institute together with
information demonstrating the compliance of such budget
submission with the funding requirements specified in the
preceding sentence.
(b)(1) There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as
may be necessary for the proper and efficient administration of
this chapter.
(2) In addition to amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization under paragraph (1), there are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the program of
performance incentive awards under section 4112 of this title
the following:
(A) For the program year beginning during fiscal year
2004, $10,000,000.
(B) For the program year beginning during fiscal year
2005, $25,000,000.
(C) For the program year beginning during fiscal year
2006, $50,000,000.
(D) For the program year beginning during fiscal year
2007, $75,000,000.
(E) For the program year beginning during fiscal year
2008, $100,000,000.
(F) For the program year beginning during fiscal year
2009 and each subsequent fiscal year, such sums as are
necessary.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 4107. Administrative controls; annual report
(a) The Secretary shall establish administrative controls for
the following purposes:
(1) To insure that each eligible veteran, especially
veterans of the Vietnam era and disabled veterans and
each eligible person, who requests assistance under
this chapter shall promptly be placed in a satisfactory
job or job training opportunity or receive some other
specific form of assistance designed to enhance such
veteran's and eligible person's employment prospects
substantially, such as individual job development or
[employment counseling services] intensive services.
* * * * * * *
(b) [The Secretary shall establish definitive performance
standards] The Secretary shall apply performance standards
established under section 4102A(f) of this title for
determining compliance by the State public employment service
agencies with the provisions of this chapter and chapter 42 of
this title. [A full report as to the extent and reasons for any
noncompliance by any such State agency during any fiscal year,
together with the agency's plan for corrective action during
the succeeding year, shall be included in the annual report of
the Secretary of Labor required by subsection (c) of this
section.] Not later than February 1 of each year, the Secretary
shall report to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the
Senate and the House of Representatives on the performance of
States and organizations and entities carrying out employment,
training, and placement services under this chapter, as
measured under subsection (b)(7) of section 4102A of this
title. In the case of a State that the Secretary determines has
not met the minimum standard of performance (established by the
Secretary under subsection (f) of such section), the Secretary
shall include an analysis of the extent and reasons for the
State's failure to meet that minimum standard, together with
the State's plan for corrective action during the succeeding
year.
(c) Not later than February 1 of each year, the Secretary
shall report to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the
Senate and the House of Representatives on the success during
the preceding program year of the Department of Labor and its
affiliated State employment service agencies in carrying out
the provisions of this chapter and programs for the provision
of employment and training services to meet the needs of
eligible veterans and eligible persons. The report shall
include--
(1) specification, by State and by age group, of the
numbers of eligible veterans, [veterans of the Vietnam
era,] disabled veterans, special disabled veterans,
[and eligible persons who registered for assistance
with] eligible persons, recently separated veterans (as
defined in section 4211(6) of this title), and
servicemembers transitioning to civilian careers who
registered for assistance with, or who are identified
as veterans by, the public employment service system
and, for each of such categories, the numbers referred
to and placed in permanent and other jobs, the numbers
referred to and placed in jobs and job training
programs supported by the Federal Government, [the
number counseled] the number who received intensive
services, and the number who received some, and the
number who received no, reportable service;
(2) a comparison of [the job placement rate] the rate
of entered employment (as determined in a manner
consistent with State performance measures applicable
under section 136(b) of the Workforce Investment Act of
1998) for each of the categories of veterans and
persons described in clause (1) of this subsection with
[the job placement rate] such rate of entered
employment (as so determined) for nonveterans of the
same age groups registered for assistance with the
public employment system in each State;
* * * * * * *
(4) a report on activities carried out during the
preceding program year under [sections 4103A and 4104]
section 4212(d) of this title; [and]
(5) a report on the operation during the preceding
program year of programs for the provision of
employment and training services designed to meet the
needs of eligible veterans and eligible persons,
including an evaluation of the effectiveness of such
programs during such program year in meeting the
requirements of section 4102A(b) of this title, the
efficiency with which services were provided through
such programs during such year, and such
recommendations for further legislative action
[(including the need for any changes in the formulas
governing the appointment of disabled veterans'
outreach program specialists under section 4103A(a)(2)
of this title and the assignment of local veterans'
employment representatives under section 4104(b) of
this title and the allocation of funds for the support
of such specialists and representatives)] relating to
veterans' employment and training as the Secretary
considers appropriate[.]; and
(6) a report on the operation during the preceding
program year of the program of performance incentive
awards for quality employment services under section
4112 of this title, including an analysis of the amount
of incentives distributed to each State and the
rationale for such distribution.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 4109. National Veterans' Employment and Training Services
Institute
(a) In order to provide for such training as the Secretary
considers necessary and appropriate for the efficient and
effective provision of employment, job-training, [counseling,]
intensive services, placement, job-search, and related services
to veterans, the Secretary shall establish and make available
such funds as may be necessary to operate a National Veterans'
Employment and Training Services Institute for the training of
disabled veterans' outreach program specialists, local
veterans' employment representatives, Directors for Veterans'
Employment and Training, and Assistant Directors for Veterans'
Employment and Training, Regional Administrators for Veterans'
Employment and Training, and such other personnel involved in
the provision of employment, job-training, [counseling,]
intensive services, placement, or related services to veterans
as the Secretary considers appropriate, including travel
expenses and per diem for attendance at the Institute.
* * * * * * *
(c)(1) Nothing in this section shall be construed as
preventing the Institute to enter into contracts or agreements
with departments or agencies of the United States or of a
State, or with other organizations, to carry out training of
personnel of such departments, agencies, or organizations in
the provision of services referred to in subsection (a).
(2) All proceeds collected by the Institute under a contract
or agreement referred to in paragraph (1) shall be applied to
the applicable appropriation.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 4112. Performance incentive awards for quality employment,
training, and placement services
(a) Program of Performance Incentive Awards.--(1) The
Secretary shall carry out a program, consistent with the
provisions of this section, of performance incentive awards to
States to encourage the improvement and modernization of
employment, training, and placement services provided under
this chapter. The Secretary shall carry out the program through
the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and
Training.
(2) The Secretary shall make performance incentive awards for
each program year, beginning with the program year that begins
in fiscal year 2004, with respect to services provided under
this chapter during the preceding program year.
(b) Criteria for Eligibility for Awards.--The Secretary shall
establish criteria for eligibility for performance incentive
awards for purposes of this section in consultation with
representatives of States, political subdivisions of States,
and other providers of employment, training, and placement
services under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 consistent
with the performance measures established under section
4102A(b)(7) of this title.
(c) Determination of Amount of Award.--(1) The Secretary
shall determine the amount of performance incentive awards in a
State under this section by measuring the performance of the
State in providing employment, training, and placement services
furnished veterans and eligible persons in each State through
employment service delivery systems, through disabled veterans'
outreach program specialists, and through local veterans'
employment representatives during the previous program year
based on the measures of performance established under section
4102A(b)(7) of this title.
(2) In determining the amount of awards under paragraph (1),
the Secretary shall--
(A) provide greater amounts to those States which the
Secretary determines furnished, during the preceding
fiscal year, the highest quality employment, training,
and placement services based on measures of
performance;
(B) provide awards to those States that have made
significant improvements in the delivery of such
services, as determined by the Secretary, but do not
meet the criteria under subparagraph (A); and
(C) consider the applicable annual unemployment data
for the State and other factors, such as prevailing
economic conditions, that affect performance of
individuals providing employment, training, and
placement services in the State.
(d) Use of Award.--Amounts received by a State under this
section may be used--
(1) to hire additional State veterans employment and
training staff; or
(2) for such other purposes related to the provision
of employment, placement, and training services as the
Secretary may approve for such services furnished under
this chapter to veterans and eligible persons.
(e) Relationship of Award to Grant Amounts or Other
Compensation.--A performance incentive award under this section
is in addition to amounts made available to a State under
section 4102A(b)(5) of this title.
(f) Availability for Obligation.--Amounts received in a
performance incentive award under this section may be obligated
by the State during the program year in which the award was
received and the subsequent program year.
(g) Appropriations.--The Secretary shall carry out the
program under this section from amounts appropriated pursuant
to the authorization under section 4106(b)(2) of this title.
Such amounts shall only be available to carry out the program
under this section.
CHAPTER 42--EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING OF VETERANS
Sec.
4211. Definitions.
* * * * * * *
4215. Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor job
training programs.
Sec. 4211. Definitions
As used in this chapter--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(6) The term ``recently separated veteran'' means any veteran
during the [one-year] three-year period beginning on the date
of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty.
Sec. 4212. Veterans' employment emphasis under Federal contracts
[(a) Any contract in the amount of $25,000 or more entered
into by any department or agency for the procurement of
personal property and nonpersonal services (including
construction) for the United States, shall contain a provision
requiring that the party contracting with the United States
shall take affirmative action to employ and advance in
employment qualified special disabled veterans, veterans of the
Vietnam era, recently separated veterans, and any other
veterans who served on active duty during a war or in a
campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been
authorized. The provisions of this section shall apply to any
subcontract entered into by a prime contractor in carrying out
any contract for the procurement of personal property and non-
personal services (including construction) for the United
States. In addition to requiring affirmative action to employ
such veterans under such contracts and subcontracts and in
order to promote the implementation of such requirement, the
President shall implement the provisions of this section by
promulgating regulations which shall require that (1) each such
contractor undertake in such contract to list immediately with
the appropriate local employment service office all of its
employment openings except that the contractor may exclude
openings for executive and top management positions, positions
which are to be filled from within the contractor's
organization, and positions lasting three days or less, and (2)
each such local office shall give such veterans priority in
referral to such employment openings.]
(a)(1) Any contract in the amount of $100,000 or more entered
into by any department or agency of the United States for the
procurement of personal property and nonpersonal services
(including construction) for the United States, shall contain a
provision requiring that the party contracting with the United
States take affirmative action to employ and advance in
employment qualified covered veterans. This section applies to
any subcontract entered into by a prime contractor in carrying
out any such contract.
(2) In addition to requiring affirmative action to employ
such qualified covered veterans under such contracts and
subcontracts and in order to promote the implementation of such
requirement, the Secretary of Labor shall prescribe regulations
requiring that--
(A) each such contractor for each such contract shall
immediately list all of its employment openings with
the appropriate employment service delivery system (as
defined in section 4101(7) of this title), and may also
list such openings with one-stop career centers under
the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, other appropriate
service delivery points, or America's Job Bank (or any
additional or subsequent national electronic job bank
established by the Department of Labor), except that
the contractor may exclude openings for executive and
senior management positions and positions which are to
be filled from within the contractor's organization and
positions lasting three days or less;
(B) each such employment service delivery system
shall give such qualified covered veterans priority in
referral to such employment openings; and
(C) each such employment service delivery system
shall provide a list of such employment openings to
States, political subdivisions of States, or any
private entities or organizations under contract to
carry out employment, training, and placement services
under chapter 41 of this title.
(3) In this section:
(A) The term ``covered veteran'' means any of the
following veterans:
(i) Disabled veterans.
(ii) Veterans who served on active duty in
the Armed Forces during a war or in a campaign
or expedition for which a campaign badge has
been authorized.
(iii) Veterans who, while serving on active
duty in the Armed Forces, participated in a
United States military operation for which an
Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant
to Executive Order 12985 (61 Fed. Reg. 1209).
(iv) Recently separated veterans.
(B) The term ``qualified'', with respect to an
employment position, means having the ability to
perform the essential functions of the position with or
without reasonable accommodation for an individual with
a disability.
* * * * * * *
(c) The Secretary of Labor shall include as part of the
annual report required by section 4107(c) of this title the
number of complaints filed pursuant to subsection (b) of this
section, the actions taken thereon and the resolutions thereof.
Such report shall also include the number of contractors
listing [suitable] employment openings, the nature, types, and
number of positions listed and the number of veterans receiving
priority pursuant to [subsection (a)(2) of this section]
subsection (a)(2)(B).
(d)(1) Each contractor to whom subsection (a) [of this
section] applies shall, in accordance with regulations which
the Secretary of Labor shall prescribe, report at least
annually to the Secretary of Labor on--
[(A) the number of employees in the work force of
such contractor, by job category and hiring location,
who are special disabled veterans, veterans of the
Vietnam era, recently separated veterans, or other
veterans who served on active duty during a war or in a
campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has
been authorized;
[(B) the total number of new employees hired by the
contractor during the period covered by the report and
the number of such employees who are special disabled
veterans, veterans of the Vietnam era, recently
separated veterans, or other veterans who served on
active duty during a war or in a campaign or expedition
for which a campaign badge has been authorized; and]
(A) the number of employees in the work force of such
contractor, by job category and hiring location, and
the number of such employees, by job category and
hiring location, who are qualified covered veterans;
(B) the total number of new employees hired by the
contractor during the period covered by the report and
the number of such employees who are qualified covered
veterans; and
* * * * * * *
(2) The Secretary of Labor shall ensure that the
administration of the reporting requirement under paragraph (1)
[of this subsection] is coordinated with respect to any
requirement for the contractor to make any other report to the
Secretary of Labor.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 4214. Employment within the Federal Government
(a)(1) The United States has an obligation to assist veterans
of the Armed Forces in readjusting to civilian life since
veterans, by virtue of their military service, have lost
opportunities to pursue education and training oriented toward
civilian careers. The Federal Government is also continuously
concerned with building an effective, competent work force, and
veterans constitute a [major] uniquely qualified recruiting
source. It is, therefore, the policy of the United States and
the purpose of this section to promote the maximum of
employment and job advancement opportunities within the Federal
Government for [disabled veterans and certain veterans of the
Vietnam era and of the post-Vietnam era] qualified covered
veterans (as defined in paragraph (2)(B)) who are qualified for
such employment and advancement.
[(2) For the purposes of this section, the term ``agency''
means a department, agency, or instrumentality in the executive
branch.]
(2) In this section:
(A) The term ``agency'' has the meaning given the
term ``department or agency'' in section 4211(5) of
this title.
(B) The term ``qualified covered veteran'' means a
veteran described in section 4212(a)(3) of this title.
(b)(1) To further the policy stated in subsection (a) of this
section, veterans referred to in paragraph (2) of this
subsection shall be eligible, in accordance with regulations
which the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe, for
veterans [readjustment] recruitment appointments, and for
subsequent career-conditional appointments, under the terms and
conditions specified in Executive Order Numbered 11521 (March
26, 1970), except that--
(A) * * *
* * * * * * *
(2) This subsection applies [to--
[(A) a veteran of the Vietnam era; and
[(B) veterans who first became a member of the Armed
Forces or first entered on active duty as a member of
the Armed Forces after May 7, 1975, and were discharged
or released from active duty under conditions other
than dishonorable.] to qualified covered veterans.
(3)[(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (C) of this
paragraph, a veteran of the Vietnam era may receive an
appointment under this section only during the period ending--
[(i) 10 years after the date of the veteran's last
discharge or release from active duty; or
[(ii) December 31, 1995,
whichever is later.
[(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (C) of this
paragraph, a veteran described in paragraph (2)(B) of this
subsection may receive such an appointment only within the 10-
year period following the later of--
[(i) the date of the veteran's last discharge or
release from active duty; or
[(ii) December 31, 1989.]
(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a qualified
covered veteran may receive such an appointment only within the
10-year period that begins on the date of the veteran's last
discharge or release from active duty.
[(C) The limitations of subparagraphs (A) and(B)] (B) The
limitation of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall not
apply to a veteran who has a service-connected disability rated
at 30 percent or more.
[(D)] (C) For purposes of [clause (i) of subparagraphs (A)
and (B) of this paragraph] subparagraph (A), the last discharge
or release from active duty shall not include any discharge or
release from active duty of less than ninety days of continuous
service unless the individual involved is discharged or
released for a service-connected disability, for a medical
condition which preexisted such service and which the Secretary
determines is not service connected, for hardship, or as a
result of a reduction in force described in section
3011(a)(1)(A)(ii)(III) of this title or of an involuntary
separation described in section 3018A(a)(1).
* * * * * * *
(e)(1) * * *
(2) Information shown for an agency under clauses (A) through
(D) of paragraph (1) of this subsection--
(A) * * *
(B) shall be shown separately (i) for veterans [of
the Vietnam era] who are entitled to disability
compensation under the laws administered by the
Secretary or whose discharge or release from active
duty was for a disability incurred or aggravated in
line of duty, and (ii) for other veterans.
* * * * * * *
(g) To further the policy stated in subsection (a) of this
section, the Secretary may give preference to [qualified
special disabled veterans and qualified veterans of the Vietnam
era] qualified covered veterans for employment in the
Department as veterans' benefits counselors and veterans'
claims examiners and in positions to provide the outreach
services required under section 7722 of this title, to serve as
veterans' representatives at certain educational institutions
as provided in section 7724 of this title, or to provide
readjustment counseling under section 1712A of this title to
veterans of the Vietnam era.
Sec. 4215. Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor job
training programs
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``covered person' means any of the
following individuals:
(A) A veteran.
(B) The spouse of any of the following
individuals:
(i) Any veteran who died of a
service-connected disability.
(ii) Any member of the Armed Forces
serving on active duty who, at the time
of application for assistance under
this section, is listed, pursuant to
section 556 of title 37 and regulations
issued thereunder, by the Secretary
concerned in one or more of the
following categories and has been so
listed for a total of more than 90
days: (I) missing in action, (II)
captured in line of duty by a hostile
force, or (III) forcibly detained or
interned in line of duty by a foreign
government or power.
(iii) Any veteran who has a total
disability resulting from a service-
connected disability.
(iv) Any veteran who died while a
disability so evaluated was in
existence.
(2) The term ``qualified job training program'' means
any workforce preparation, development, or delivery
program or service that is directly funded, in whole or
in part, by the Department of Labor and includes the
following:
(A) Any such program or service that uses
technology to assist individuals to access
workforce development programs (such as job and
training opportunities, labor market
information, career assessment tools, and
related support services).
(B) Any such program or service under the
public employment service system, one-stop
career centers, the Workforce Investment Act of
1998, a demonstration or other temporary
program, and those programs implemented by
States or local service providers based on
Federal block grants administered by the
Department of Labor.
(C) Any such program or service that is a
workforce development program targeted to
specific groups.
(3) The term ``priority of service'' means, with
respect to any qualified job training program, that a
covered person shall be given priority over nonveterans
for the receipt of employment, training, and placement
services provided under that program, notwithstanding
any other provision of law.
(b) Entitlement to Priority of Service.--(1) A covered person
is entitled to priority of service under any qualified job
training program if the person otherwise meets the eligibility
requirements for participation in such program.
(2) The Secretary of Labor may establish priorities among
covered persons for purposes of this section to take into
account the needs of disabled veterans and special disabled
veterans, and such other factors as the Secretary determines
appropriate.
(c) Administration of Programs at State and Local Levels.--An
entity of a State or a political subdivision of the State that
administers or delivers services under a qualified job training
program shall--
(1) provide information and priority of service to
covered persons regarding benefits and services that
may be obtained through other entities or service
providers; and
(2) ensure that each covered person who applies to or
who is assisted by such a program is informed of the
employment-related rights and benefits to which the
person is entitled under this section.
(d) Addition to Annual Report.--In the annual report required
under section 4107(c) of this title for the program year
beginning in 2002 and each subsequent program year, the
Secretary of Labor shall evaluate whether covered persons are
receiving priority of service and are being fully served by
qualified job training programs, and whether the levels of
service of such programs are in proportion to the incidence of
representation of veterans in the labor market, including
within groups that the Secretary may designate for priority
under such programs, if any.
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