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9-21-12

Veteran Job Corps Fails in Senate, Other Bills Advance

There were two votes less than the 60 needed (i.e. cloture motion) to end debate in the Senate and force a vote on the “Veterans Jobs Corps Act” (S. 3457) that would help put veterans back to work as police officers, fire fighters, and other first responders.  Sponsored by Senator Bill Nelson (Fla.), the bill sought to authorize veterans’ training and hiring programs associated with restoring and protecting national, state, and tribal forests, parks, coastal areas, wildlife refuges, and VA cemeteries. 

The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC) did, however, approve several other measures to expand veterans’ access to mental health care (S. 3340) and authorize a cost-of-living increase to disabled veterans and their survivors who collect benefits (S. 2259). The other SVAC-approved bills include:

• S. 3322, sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio), seeks to clarify certain provisions in the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) and improve enforcement measures.
• S. 3313, sponsored by SVAC Chairwoman Patty Murray (Wash.), would increase Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reproductive assistance programs to wounded veterans and their spouses.
• S. 2241, sponsored by SVAC Chairwoman Patty Murray (Wash.), would require the VA to provide information on the use of educational assistance to service members and veterans.
• S. 1707, sponsored by SVAC Ranking Member Richard Burr (N.C.), would require a judicial authority to determine whether a VA beneficiary poses a danger to himself or herself before being barred from owning a gun.

The House also approved legislation (H.R. 4057) that requires the VA to provide detailed information about the educational institutions a veteran is planning to attend with VA educational benefits. The FRA-supported measure, sponsored Rep. Gus Bilirakis (Fla.), also requires the VA to establish a registry for troops exposed to toxic chemicals from burn pits while deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Further the bill limits performance bonuses for VA employees beginning in FY 2013 through FY 2017. The bill now goes to the Senate for further consideration.   

The House Financial Services Committee also approved the “Vulnerable Veterans Housing Act” (H.R. 6361) that would not count benefit payments made to veterans for in-home disability care as income when they apply for housing programs through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rogers (Wash.), will now be considered by the full House.