Earlier this week, the House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill, titled the Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment Act or “BRAVE Act.” The BRAVE Act authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) to give preferences to companies that employ veterans on a full-time basis in awarding contracts for the procurement of goods and services. The legislation gives the VA discretion to determine the preference that should be afforded to a contractor based on the percentage of veterans it employs. In addition, the legislation would allow the VA to bar employers who willfully misrepresent the veteran status of employees from contracting with the VA for five or more years.

The BRAVE Act was received in the Senate yesterday and has been referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs for further action.

A copy of the BRAVE Act is available here.

This post was written with contributions from Emilie Adams.