[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3600 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3600

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the VA Work-Study 
                                program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 23, 2023

 Mr. Cartwright (for himself, Mr. Carson, Ms. Titus, Ms. Jackson Lee, 
Mr. Kim of New Jersey, Mr. Wittman, Ms. Ross, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, 
Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Norton, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Case, Mr. Lieu, Mr. Trone, 
 Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, 
   Mr. Carl, Mr. Norcross, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mrs. 
 Torres of California, Mr. Morelle, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Landsman, Mr. 
   Crow, Mr. Moskowitz, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. 
 Kuster, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Crockett, Ms. Wexton, Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of 
Texas, Ms. Craig, Mr. McGarvey, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Budzinski, and Mr. Mrvan) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the VA Work-Study 
                                program.

    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 ``VA Work-Study Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO VA WORK-STUDY PROGRAM.

    (a) Authorized Activities.--Subsection (a)(5) of section 3485 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph:
            ``(L) Any other activity at an agency of a State or local 
        government or a nonprofit organization that would benefit, 
        directly or indirectly, veterans or members of the Armed 
        Forces.''.
    (b) Applicable Hourly Minimum Wage.--Paragraph (7) of subsection 
(a) of such section is amended to read as follows:
    ``(7) In this subsection and subsection (e):
            ``(A) The term `applicable hourly minimum wages' means the 
        higher of the following wages:
                    ``(i) The minimum rate of basic pay for any Federal 
                employee under the General Schedule or the Federal Wage 
                System pursuant to parts 530 and 532 of title 5, Code 
                of Federal Regulations.
                    ``(ii) The hourly minimum wage under comparable law 
                of the State in which the services are to be performed.
                    ``(iii) The hourly minimum wage under comparable 
                law of the local government with jurisdiction over the 
                area in which the services are to be performed.
            ``(B) The term `rate of basic pay' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 8331 of title 5.''.
    (c) Electronic Timesheets.--Such section is amended by adding at 
the end the following new subsection:
    ``(f) The Secretary shall ensure that--
            ``(1) an individual participating in a qualifying work-
        study activity may electronically record the hours worked under 
        such activity; and
            ``(2) the supervisor of such individual may electronically 
        approve such records.''.
    (d) Publication of Data.--Such section, as amended by subsection 
(c), is further amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(g) On an annual basis, the Secretary shall publish the following 
information regarding qualifying work-study activities carried out 
during the covered year:
            ``(1) The number of individuals who participated in a 
        qualifying work-study activity.
            ``(2) The demographics of such individuals.
            ``(3) A description of such activities.
            ``(4) The wages paid to such individuals.
            ``(5) The number of hours worked by such individuals.
            ``(6) A list of the participating educational 
        institutions.''.
    (e) Applicability.--The amendments made by this Act shall apply 
with respect to a payment of work-study allowance made under section 
3485 of title 38, United States Code, on or after January 1, 2026.
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