[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2919 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2919

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide greater flexibility 
 to States in carrying out the Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program and 
  employing local veterans' employment representatives, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 11, 2016

Mr. Toomey (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide greater flexibility 
 to States in carrying out the Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program and 
  employing local veterans' employment representatives, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``State Outreach for Local Veterans 
Employment Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) As of the day before the date of the enactment of this 
        Act, unemployment among veterans in the United States is much 
        too high, especially considering the sacrifices veterans have 
        made for the United States.
            (2) The Secretary of Labor makes available funding to the 
        States to support disabled veterans' outreach program 
        specialists and local veterans' employment representatives in 
        each State.
            (3) As of the day before the date of the enactment of this 
        Act, State and local government agencies and departments have 
        significant issues with finding and connecting with veterans 
        after they separate from service in the Armed Forces, which 
        affects the ability of those agencies and departments to offer 
        important services to veterans.

SEC. 3. GREATER FLEXIBILITY TO STATES IN CARRYING OUT DISABLED 
              VETERANS' OUTREACH PROGRAM AND EMPLOYING LOCAL VETERANS' 
              EMPLOYMENT REPRESENTATIVES.

    (a) State Authority To Select Implementing Agency.--Section 
4102A(c) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new paragraph:
    ``(10) The Secretary may not reject a plan submitted by a State 
under this subsection based solely on which agency the Governor of the 
State selects to carry out such plan.''.
    (b) Colocation With One-Stop Centers.--Section 4102A of such title 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(i) Colocation With One-Stop Centers.--The Secretary shall 
encourage the Governor of a State to colocate the disabled veterans' 
outreach program specialists and local veterans' employment 
representatives of such State with one or more one-stop centers 
described in section 121(e) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 
Act (29 U.S.C. 3151(e)) in such State.''.
    (c) Tailoring Plans To Meet the Unique Needs of States.--Subsection 
(c)(2) of such section is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subparagraph:
    ``(C)(i) The Secretary shall encourage each State that submits a 
plan as part of an application under subparagraph (A) to tailor such 
plan to meet the employment and training needs of veterans in such 
State.
    ``(ii) In a case in which a plan described in clause (i) addresses 
a significant barrier to employment, a State may propose such barriers 
as the State considers appropriate for the purpose of allowing 
additional categories of veterans to receive services under sections 
4103A and 4104 of this title, subject to review and approval of such 
proposal by the Secretary.''.
    (d) Approval of Plans.--Subsection (c) of such section, as amended 
by subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
    ``(11) In any case in which a State submits a plan to the Secretary 
under this subsection and the Secretary objects to a portion of the 
plan but not the entirety of the plan, the Secretary shall--
            ``(A) approve such portions of the plan as the Secretary 
        does not find objectionable;
            ``(B) submit to the State an explanation describing which 
        portions of the plan were not approved and why; and
            ``(C) allow the State to submit for approval revisions to 
        the portions of the plan for which the Secretary submitted an 
        explanation under subparagraph (B).''.
    (e) Prohibition on New Funding.--No additional funds are authorized 
to be appropriated to carry out the amendments made by this section. 
The amendments made by this section shall be carried out using amounts 
otherwise appropriated to carry out chapter 41 of title 38, United 
States Code.
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