House passes veterans employment bills

House passes veterans employment bills

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday May 19, 2009 20:32:38 EDT

The House of Representatives approved three veterans bills Tuesday, involving job protections for federal workers who are also in the reserves, demanding faster training for federal specialists in job placement, and using $200,000 in grants to encourage development of technologies to make home life easier for severely disabled veterans.

Rep. John Boozman, ranking Republican on the House veterans’ economic opportunity subcommittee, is the chief sponsor of HR 1170, the assisted technology grant bill.

“The goal of this bill is to encourage the development of technology to provide the maximum level of independence to severely disabled veterans in their daily living,” he said.

Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., the veterans’ economic opportunity panel chairwoman, is the chief sponsor of HR 1088, the House-passed bill that orders training within one year of hiring for state employees assigned to duties as Disabled Veterans Outreach Program Specialists and Local Veterans’ Employment Specialists, known in veterans circles as DVOPS and LVERs.

The third bill passed by the House, HR 1170, also sponsored by Herseth Sandlin, gives the Office of Special Counsel responsibility for the investigation and prosecution of cases of employment and re-employment rights violations by federal agencies, power that currently rests with the Labor Department’s Veterans’ Employment Training Service.
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House passes veterans employment bills