Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas is among a small contingent of combined House and Senate members that have introduced legislation to provide veterans with training for in-demand jobs to help veterans who are unemployed due to COVID-19.
In 2019 the veteran unemployment rate was 3.1 percent, but following the COVID-19 pandemic, veteran unemployment rose to 11.7 percent, totaling more than one million veterans currently unemployed. This legislation would provide additional funding to current training programs and create a rapid re-training program and other wraparound transitional programs to provide unemployed veterans and reservists with benefits to pursue training in high-demand occupations, and training them for careers following the pandemic.
"The Veterans Economic Recovery Act of 2020 will provide retraining opportunities to help our veterans and their spouses find meaningful jobs so they can provide for themselves and their families," said Chairman Moran.