Sponsors (28)
The bill uses federal funding to incentivize hiring of veterans into energy-sector jobs—improving veteran employment and local workforce development—while concentrating benefits on the energy sector and certain populations, imposing taxpayer cost and administrative limits that may restrict broader participation.
Veterans, separating service members, and their spouses gain targeted hiring incentives that improve job placement in the energy sector.
The bill allocates $60 million per year (FY2026–2031) to the program, enabling multi-year scaling of placements, training, and program capacity.
Employers — especially small businesses — can receive up to $10,000 per hired veteran to offset recruiting, training, licensure, relocation, and onboarding costs, lowering barriers to hiring.
Taxpayers fund $60 million per year for six years, which could divert federal dollars from other priorities or increase budgetary pressure.
Limiting eligible entities to energy-generation and critical-equipment firms narrows job pathways and may exclude veterans from other industries that could hire and retrain them.
Grant caps (up to $10,000 per hire and $500,000 per grantee) may be insufficient to cover high-cost training or relocation for some energy jobs, limiting employer participation and placement of higher-cost hires.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes DOL grants to reimburse energy-sector employers up to $10,000 per veteran hire for training, licensing, recruitment, admin, and relocation costs with reporting and audit requirements.
Creates a Department of Labor grant program that pays energy-sector employers to hire veterans, servicemembers eligible for preseparation counseling, and their spouses. Grants reimburse employers for costs such as training, certification, recruitment, orientation, administration, and relocation, with selection preferences for certain high-need veterans and small businesses, and caps of $10,000 per hire and $500,000 per grantee per year. Requires annual reporting, audits and repayment for misspent funds, and coordination between the Departments of Labor, Defense, and Veterans Affairs to align with transition programs and military-to-civilian employment efforts.
Official title: To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Labor to carry out a grant program to help certain members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their spouses, obtain employment in the energy industry.
Introduced June 24, 2025 by Jennifer Kiggans · Last progress June 24, 2025