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Title II — Building on our vow to hire heroes

H.R. 4824 · 116th Congress · Oct 23, 2019 · Lineage

II Building on our vow to hire heroes

Sec. 201 Unified employment portal for veterans

Section 4105 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(c)

“(1) The Secretary shall develop a single, unified Federal web-based employment portal, for use by veterans, containing information regarding all Federal programs and activities concerning employment, unemployment, and training to the extent the programs and activities affect veterans.

“(2) The Secretary shall work with representatives from the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Small Business Administration, and other Federal agencies and organizations concerned with veterans' issues, to determine an appropriate platform and implementing agency for the portal. The Secretary shall enter into an agreement with the other Federal agencies for the implementation of the portal.”

Sec. 202 Grants to hire veterans as first responders

(a)
Grants for firefighters— The Secretary of Homeland Security shall award grants under section 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229a) to hire veterans as firefighters.
(b)
Grants for law enforcement officers— The Attorney General shall award grants under part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.) to hire veterans as law enforcement officers.
(c)
Priority— In awarding grants under this section to hire veterans, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General shall give priority to the hiring of veterans who served on active duty in the Armed Forces on or after September 11, 2001.
(d)
Authorization of appropriations— There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $250,000,000.

Sec. 203 Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans

(a)
Civilian contracts—
(1)
In general— Chapter 33 of title 41, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

“3313. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans

“(a) Preference—With respect to the procurement of goods and services using competitive procedures by executive agencies, where such procurement is valued at $25,000,000 or higher, the Administrator shall establish a preference, and criteria for applying such preference, for a covered offeror.

“(b) Congressional report—Prior to establishing the preference described in subsection (a), the Administrator shall provide a report to Congress that includes—

“(1) a plan for implementing such preference, including penalties for an offeror that willfully and intentionally misrepresents the veteran status of the employees of the offeror in a bid submitted under subsection (a); and

“(2) the process for assessing and verifying offeror compliance with regulations relating to equal opportunity for veterans requirements.

“(c) Covered offeror defined—In this section, the term covered offeror means an offeror for which 5 percent of the full-time employees of such offeror are veterans.”

(2)
Clerical amendment— The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding after the item relating to section 3312 the following new item:
(b)
Defense contracts—
(1)
In general— Chapter 137 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

“2339b. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans

“(a) Preference—With respect to the procurement of goods and services using competitive procedures by executive agencies, where such procurement is valued at $25,000,000 or higher, the Administrator shall establish a preference, and criteria for applying such preference, for a covered offeror.

“(b) Congressional report—Prior to establishing the preference described in subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall provide a report to Congress that includes—

“(1) a plan for implementing such preference, including penalties for an offeror that willfully and intentionally misrepresents the veteran status of the employees of the offeror in a bid submitted under subsection (a); and

“(2) the process for assessing and verifying offeror compliance with regulations relating to equal opportunity for veterans requirements.

“(c) Covered offeror defined—In this section, the term covered offeror means an offeror for which 5 percent of the full-time employees of such offeror are veterans.”

(2)
Clerical amendment— The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding after the item relating to section 2339a the following new item:
(c)
Applicability— The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to contracts entered into 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(d)
Regulations— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be amended to carry out the requirements of section 3313 of title 41, United States Code, and section 2339b of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsections (a) and (b), respectively.