Sponsors (33)
The bill expands placement options, raises pay, and increases transparency and payroll accuracy for VA work‑study participants, but shifts higher wage and administrative costs onto state/local hosts and nonprofits and introduces privacy risks if reporting data are not de‑identified.
Veterans and service members in the VA work-study program will have more placement opportunities because they can be assigned to a wider range of state, local, and nonprofit activities.
Veterans and student participants will receive higher pay because work-study wages must be at least the highest of federal GS/FWS, state, or local minimum wages.
Veterans, participating agencies, and state governments will get faster, more accurate payroll processing and fewer payment delays due to required electronic timekeeping with supervisor approval.
State and local governments and nonprofit hosts will face higher labor costs because the new wage floor raises the minimum they must pay work-study participants.
Smaller nonprofits and local agencies may incur administrative burdens and compliance costs to implement electronic timekeeping and meet reporting requirements, which could deter participation or require additional funding.
Veteran and student privacy could be at risk if the publicly published participant demographic data are not sufficiently de‑identified.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced November 10, 2025 by April McClain Delaney · Last progress November 10, 2025
Expands the VA Work-Study program by broadening where participants may perform work, raising the hourly minimum wage standard, requiring electronic timekeeping and supervisor approval, and mandating annual public reporting of participation and program data. The changes revise how the wage floor is calculated so the work-study hourly minimum equals the highest of the federal GS/FWS minimum, the State minimum wage where services occur, or the local minimum wage; the new rules apply to allowance payments made on or after January 1, 2028.