VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011

VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011

By: Neil L. Wojtal

On November 10, 2011 the Senate passed the VOW to Hire Heroes Act. The Act is intended to help the approximately 900,000 unemployed veterans find jobs and to provide incentives to employers who hire them.

The highlights of the Act are:

1. The Act provides the nearly 100,000 unemployed veterans of past eras and wars with up to one year of additional Montgomery GI Bill benefits to qualify for jobs in high demand sectors. It also provides disabled veterans who have exhausted their unemployment benefits with up to one year of additional VA vocational and employment benefits.
2. The Act makes the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) mandatory for most veterans transitioning to civilian status and provides them with resources for upgrading their job hunting skills in today's job market.
3. Veterans will be able to begin the federal employment process by acquiring veterans' preference status prior to service separation which will allow them to speed up the hiring process when applying for federal agency jobs.
4. The Act will require the Department of Labor to look at how to translate military skills and training to civilian sector jobs and make it easier for veterans to get required licenses and certifications.
5. The Act provides for the following tax credits for employers who hire veterans.

• a.  $2,400 for employers who hire veterans who have been unemployed for more than four weeks but less than six months
• b.  $5,600 for employers who hire veterans unemployed for more than six months.
• c.   $9,600 for employers who hire veterans with service connected liabilities that have been unemployed for more than six months.

Note that Congress has ensured that the Act is completely paid for with existing revenue and does not increase the federal deficit.

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