--- kind: "section" citation: "38 U.S.C. § 1744" title: "38" title_heading: "Veterans’ Benefits" number: "1744" heading: "Hiring and retention of nurses: payments to assist States" release: "119-102" date: "2026-07-12" url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/38/1744" units: - "Part II — General Benefits" - "Chapter 17 — Hospital, Nursing Home, Domiciliary, and Medical Care" - "Subchapter V — Payments to State Homes" --- # §1744. Hiring and retention of nurses: payments to assist States - (a) **Payment Program.—** The [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) shall make payments to [States](/usc/38/101.md?p=20) under this section for the purpose of assisting [State homes](/usc/38/101.md?p=19) in the hiring and retention of nurses and the reduction of nursing shortages at [State homes](/usc/38/101.md?p=19). - (b) **Eligible Recipients.—** Payments to a [State](/usc/38/101.md?p=20) for a fiscal year under this section shall, subject to submission of an application, be made to any [State](/usc/38/101.md?p=20) that during that fiscal year— - (1) receives per diem payments under this subchapter for that fiscal year; and - (2) has in effect an employee incentive scholarship program or other employee incentive program at a [State home](/usc/38/101.md?p=19) designed to promote the hiring and retention of nursing staff and to reduce nursing shortages at that home. - (c) **Use of Funds Received.—** A [State](/usc/38/101.md?p=20) may use an amount received under this section only to provide funds for a program described in [subsection (b)(2)](#b-2). Any program shall meet such criteria as the [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) may prescribe. In prescribing such criteria, the [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) shall take into consideration the need for flexibility and innovation. - (d) **Limitations on Amount of Payment.—** - (1) A payment under this section may not be used to provide more than 50 percent of the costs for a fiscal year of the employee incentive scholarship or other employee incentive program for which the payment is made. - (2) The amount of the payment to a [State](/usc/38/101.md?p=20) under this section for any fiscal year is, for each [State home](/usc/38/101.md?p=19) in that [State](/usc/38/101.md?p=20) with a program described in [subsection (b)(2)](#b-2), the amount equal to 2 percent of the amount of payments estimated to be made to that [State](/usc/38/101.md?p=20), for that [State home](/usc/38/101.md?p=19), under [section 1741 of this title](/usc/38/1741.md) for that fiscal year. - (e) **Applications.—** A payment under this section for any fiscal year with respect to any [State home](/usc/38/101.md?p=19) may only be made based upon an application submitted by the [State](/usc/38/101.md?p=20) seeking the payment with respect to that [State home](/usc/38/101.md?p=19). Any such application shall describe the nursing shortage at the [State home](/usc/38/101.md?p=19) and the employee incentive scholarship program or other employee incentive program described in [subsection (c)](#c) for which the payment is sought. - (f) **Source of Funds.—** Payments under this section shall be made from funds available for other payments under this subchapter. - (g) **Disbursement.—** Payments under this section to a [State home](/usc/38/101.md?p=19) shall be made as part of the disbursement of payments under [section 1741 of this title](/usc/38/1741.md) with respect to that [State home](/usc/38/101.md?p=19). - (h) **Use of Certain Receipts.—** The [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) shall require as a condition of any payment under this section that, in any case in which the [State home](/usc/38/101.md?p=19) receives a refund payment made by an employee in breach of the terms of an agreement for employee assistance that used funds provided under this section, the payment shall be returned to the [State home](/usc/38/101.md?p=19)’s incentive program account and credited as a non-Federal funding source. - (i) **Annual Report From Payment Recipients.—** Any [State home](/usc/38/101.md?p=19) receiving a payment under this section for any fiscal year, shall, as a condition of the payment, be required to agree to provide to the [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) a report setting forth in detail the use of funds received through the payment, including a descriptive analysis of how effective the incentive program has been on nurse staffing in the [State home](/usc/38/101.md?p=19) during that fiscal year. The report for any fiscal year shall be provided to the [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) within 60 days of the close of the fiscal year and shall be subject to audit by the [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1). Eligibility for a payment under this section for any later fiscal year is contingent upon the receipt by the [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) of the annual report under this subsection for the previous fiscal year in accordance with this subsection. - (j) **Regulations.—** The [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section. The regulations shall include the establishment of criteria for the award of payments under this section. ## Source credit (Added Pub. L. 108–422, title II, § 201(a)(1), Nov. 30, 2004, 118 Stat. 2380.) ## Notes ### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries ### Implementation Pub. L. 108–422, title II, § 201(b), Nov. 30, 2004, 118 Stat. 2382, provided that: “The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall implement section 1744 of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), as expeditiously as possible. The Secretary shall establish such interim procedures as necessary so as to ensure that payments are made to eligible States under that section commencing not later than June 1, 2005, notwithstanding that regulations under subsection (j) of that section may not have become final.”