Lawmakers to include VET-TEC renewal under broader veteran bill, per committee spokesperson

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ promising tech training program expired at the beginning of April after Congress failed to reauthorize the program, but lawmakers have agreed on bipartisan legislation that would extend the initiative, according to a spokesperson for Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. — the chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. 

VA’s five-year pilot, known as the Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses — or VET-TEC — program, provided eligible veterans with access to high-tech education training courses with approved providers. The program was launched in 2019 and provided $45 million annually to subsidize retired servicemembers’ courses. 

According to information shared by VA, roughly 15,900 veterans and beneficiaries completed the program over the course of the five-year pilot, as of April 4. VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes told Nextgov/FCW in a statement, however, that “at this time no legislation has been passed which would affect the program.”

But VET-TEC is set to be revived if broader congressional discussions come to fruition. 

Tester’s spokesperson said the senator is negotiating a package of veterans’ legislation with Ranking Member Jerry Moran, R. Kan., and the leaders of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. As part of the discussions, the lawmakers have already reached an agreement to reauthorize VET-TEC as part of the legislative proposals that they hope to advance sometime this spring, per the spokesperson.

“The servicemember to civilian transition is a critically important time for veterans and their family, and ensuring veterans have the tools they need to succeed this transition is one of my top priorities as Chairman,” Tester told Nextgov/FCW in a statement. “The VET-TEC program is one of those important tools for veterans to grow their technology skillset in the private sector, and I’ll continue working with my Republican and Democratic colleagues to reauthorize this program.”

Negotiations to extend the program across Congress’s key VA committees have been ongoing since last year, although the agreement to reauthorize the program represents a key step toward VET-TEC’s renewal. Tester’s office previously told Nextgov/FCW in November 2023 that the senator was working with his colleagues to reauthorize the program before the end of last year, as part of broader legislative discussions. 

The House overwhelmingly passed legislation — introduced by Reps. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif. — in May 2023 that would permanently fund the program. Two separate bills were also introduced in the Senate last year to extend the program, although one proposal would permanently reauthorize the initiative while the other would extend it for an additional five years.

Tester’s spokesperson said the lawmakers’ proposal to renew the program would reauthorize it for another five years and would include additional tweaks to the initiative.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include details on the proposed reauthorization.