Lee, Steube Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Help Student Veterans Find Jobs
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Susie Lee (NV-03) and Congressman Greg Steube (FL-17) introduced their bipartisan Hire Student Veterans Act. This legislation would provide tax incentives to businesses who hire student veterans for paid internships, part-time or full-time roles.
“As the brave men and women who fought to keep our country safe transition back to civilian life, we need to make sure finding a good-paying, rewarding job isn’t another battle,” said Congresswoman Susie Lee. “The Hire Student Veterans Act will provide our student veterans with the training, resources, and opportunities they need to start new careers, all while creating incentives for businesses to hire veterans. We must pass this bipartisan, commonsense legislation to make sure our vets, especially our student vets, have a roadmap to start new careers and start their civilian life back home in Nevada.”
"America owes a debt of gratitude to the men and women of our military for their service," said Congressman Greg Steube. "No veteran should ever be left to languish on the unemployment line. I am grateful to join with Congresswoman Lee and Senators Moran and Rosen on this bill that will expand opportunity and financial security for our student veterans. It is only right that we provide our heroes with every possible option to earn a reliable income while attending school.”
Lee’s bipartisan, bicameral Hire Student Veterans Act seeks to make three important changes to the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) that will incentivize businesses to hire more student veterans:
Automatically qualify employers who hire student veterans using their GI Bill benefits for WOTC’s 40 percent tax credit on the first $6,000 of a new employee’s first-year wages;
Reduce the existing tax credit’s 400-hour work requirement to 120 hours if a newly-hired employee is a veteran using their GI Bill benefits, allowing a student veteran to work part-time while in school; and
Directly incentivize employers to hire more student veterans for full- and part-time work and paid internships.
Currently, employers can only qualify for the WOTC by hiring veterans who have a service-connected disability or have been unemployed for more than four weeks. The changes in the Hire Student Veterans Act would ensure that all student veterans using their GI benefits can take advantage of valuable paid internships or work opportunities.
The Hire Student Veterans Act has been endorsed by Veterans of Foreign Wars, UNLV Military and Veteran Service Center, and Minority Veterans of America.
Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) have introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
Recently, Congresswoman Lee joined Isaac Velazquez, a current student and 2nd Lieutenant in the Nevada National Guard and Emma Przybyslawski, CEO of Strike Solutions and former Air Force Special Operations Intelligence Officer, to discuss the importance of the Hire Student Veterans Act.
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