Sponsors (4)
Last progress September 16, 2025 (4 months ago)
Introduced on June 5, 2025 by Abraham J. Hamadeh
Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to place VA scholarship participants into full-time clinical jobs at VA facilities with the greatest staffing need shortly after they complete training or obtain licensure, and requires those positions to offer competitive pay and benefits. It also bans smoking (including e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems) anywhere inside or on the grounds of Veterans Health Administration facilities and imposes a 180-day reporting requirement to track implementation through September 30, 2027.
Adds a new subsection (d) to section 7616 of title 38, United States Code.
The Secretary must ensure a Scholarship Program participant receives a contract for employment in the participant’s full‑time clinical practice at a Department facility with the highest need, as determined by the Secretary, within 90 days after the later of (A) the date the participant completes the Scholarship Program course, or (B) the date the participant obtains all required licensure, certification, or credentialing necessary to practice independently.
A contract provided under the requirement must include a competitive salary and benefits package consistent with the Department’s employment standards.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment, and every 180 days thereafter until the termination date, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs must submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on the implementation of the new subsection (d) of section 7616.
The reporting requirement continues every 180 days until the termination date specified in the section.
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H4285)
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Who is affected and how:
VA scholarship participants / health-care trainees: They are directly affected because the VA must place them into full-time clinical roles at high-need VHA facilities soon after finishing training or becoming licensed. This increases the likelihood of immediate employment within the VA system and may accelerate transitions from training to practice.
VA clinical staffing and human resources: VA HR and local facility managers must identify high-need clinical vacancies, arrange timely placements, ensure positions offer competitive pay/benefits, and manage onboarding. This creates administrative workload and may require alignment of hiring authorities, pay bands, and vacancy planning.
Veterans and VHA patients: More rapid placement of trained clinicians at high-need sites could improve access to care and reduce staffing shortfalls. The smoke-free rule will reduce patient, visitor, and staff exposure to secondhand smoke and e-cigarette aerosol on VA property.
VHA employees and facility visitors: All staff, contractors, and visitors are subject to the smoking ban, which may change designated smoking areas or enforcement practices and require signage, communication, and enforcement protocols.
Department leadership and oversight: The Secretary must produce implementation reports every 180 days through 9/30/2027, creating recurring oversight and transparency obligations.
Budgets and costs: The statute requires competitive pay and benefits but does not specify new funding; VA may need to allocate or reprogram existing funds to meet pay expectations or to support recruitment/onboarding. There may also be modest costs for implementing and enforcing the smoke-free policy (signage, communications, enforcement) and for reporting.
Overall effect: The bill is operational and administrative rather than programmatic funding legislation. It is likely to improve staffing at high-need VA clinical sites and create a uniform smoke-free environment across VHA facilities, while imposing routine administrative responsibilities and potential modest costs for implementation and enforcement.