Job-training bill urges accountability

VFW Magazine, June-July, 2002 by Tim Dyhouse

A bill pending in the House would hold the Department of Labor more accountable for helping veterans find jobs. The lobs for Veterans Act--H.R. 4015--was introduced March 20 by Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), chairman of the House Veterans Benefits Subcommittee.

"The sole purpose of this bill is long-term sustained employment for America's veterans," Simpson said. "This bill is about providing accountability and incentive for state job service programs to secure jobs for veterans."

The legislation would:

* give veterans priority, when applying to any job-training program funded by the Department of Labor;

* require the head of Labor's Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) to "establish and implement a comprehensive performance accountability system" to measure the level of service VETS staff members provide for veterans;

* require the Labor secretary to establish a "one-stop job training and placement service" for veterans and GIs; and

* create a President's National Hire Veterans Committee in each state to give employers information about the training and skills of veterans.

Simpson says fostering accountability from state job-training programs, which receive more than $200 million annually in federal funds, is the bill's main focus.

"H.R. 4015 takes a very simple approach: Those programs that produce favorable results for veterans will be rewarded; those that don't will not," he said. "States also will have more flexibility in managing the grants that staff the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program and Local Veterans Employment Representatives Programs."

Simpson's subcommittee heard testimony regarding H.R. 4015 on April 18, the last action at press time.