House to VA employees: Your mess-ups will live forever

Under the Ensuring VA Accountability Act, reprimands and admonishments that VA employees receive for misconduct would remain part of their permanent record for ...

Employees of the Veterans Affairs Department gained one more reason to believe they’re being singled out by Congress.

The House this week passed the Ensuring VA Accountability Act. Under it, reprimands and admonishments that VA employees receive for misconduct would remain part of their permanent record for as long as they work for the department.

The VA currently erases most admonishments after two years and most reprimands after three years.

The bill ” would put an end to the department’s tired and ineffective practice of issuing temporary written warnings to employees in the face of serious instances of mismanagement and malfeasance,” said House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) in a written statement.

After waiting times and patient-care scandals at VA facilities thrust the department into the national spotlight a year ago, Congress passed a law making it easier for VA Secretary Bob McDonald to fire senior executives for wrongdoing.  But Wednesday House Speaker John Boehner accused the department of failing to use its new powers to get rid of employees. He said he expected to see more bills targeting VA employees this year. Already, several have been introduced.

“If only the VA did half as good a job taking care of our veterans as they do their own bureaucrats,” Boehner said.

In response, the VA said it has fired 21 employees since June.

The bill on admonishments and reprimands was one of several the House passed this week that could impact how the VA carries out its diverse missions.

House rewards companies with veteran connections

The more veterans you hire, the more likely your chances of receiving a VA contract, under one bill passed by the House.

The Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment Act says McDonald could give preference to government contractors based on how many of their full-time employees are veterans. The bill does not require him to do so, however.

“This bipartisan legislation will create an incentive for contractors to proactively seek out and provide veterans with that opportunity for meaningful full-time employment,” said Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), one of the bill’s sponsors.

A second procurement-related measure would expand a provision that lets widows of veterans injured in the line of duty retain the veteran’s service-disabled small business status for up to three years following the veteran’s death. The law today is more restrictive. It says the veterans must be totally disabled or killed while serving for their spouse to retain the special designation needed for accessing up to $3 billion a year in VA contracts.

ID cards for all veterans under another House bill

The House also approved the Veteran’s I.D. Card Act  to let the VA make identification cards for all honorably discharged veteran, regardless of whether they are using the department’s health facilities. The veterans would have to pay for the card. Currently, they have to carry an official document from their personnel file, which increases their risk of identity theft, according to bill sponsor Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.)

Helping homeless veterans through 2020

The Obama administration set a goal to end veteran homelessness by this year. Despite high-profile efforts, the government did not complete the job.

The House voted to extend one of the most successful parts of the initiative: VA programs that offer employment help to homeless veterans. Participants in the programs have a 70- percent success rate, according to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R- Ohio). The legislation authorizes the programs through fiscal 2020.

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