118th Congress Armed Forces and National Security
S. 10: VA Clinician Appreciation, Recruitment, Education, Expansion, and Retention Support (CAREERS) Act of 2023
Introduced
- Introduced (completed)
- Passed Senate (not reached)
- Passed House (not reached)
- To the President (not reached)
- Became law (not reached)
Summary
This bill addresses Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) personnel matters and the training, recruitment, and retention of VA health care employees.
Among other requirements, the VA must
- expand various staff training efforts and programs;
- comply with certain notification and staffing requirements when a VA medical center director is on detail;
- prescribe a system of pay for individuals appointed as directors of medical centers and directors of Veterans Integrated Service Networks; and
- establish a consolidated annual leave account for certain VA employees with restored leave during 2020, 2021, and 2022.
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The bill also
- authorizes the VA to waive pay limitations for employees of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) who are performing mission critical work;
- increases the maximum amount of incentive pay for pharmacist executives;
- modifies the special pay authority for nurse executives and the administration of pay for VA physicians, podiatrists, optometrists, and dentists;
- authorizes a waiver of certain licensure requirements for psychologists and mental health counselors in certain circumstances;
- requires the Inspector General of the VA to study and report on the use of direct hire authority, the contributions made by the use of such authority, and any vulnerabilities or inconsistencies with respect to the use of such authority;
- includes VA police officers as law enforcement officers for purposes of the federal retirement system; and
- requires the Government Accountability Office to report on human resources modernization conducted by the VHA.
Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Roll calls
No roll call votes have been held on this bill.
Amendments
No amendments were offered to this bill.
Cosponsors
- John Boozman R-AROriginal
- Shelley Capito R-WV
- Angus King I-ME
- Christopher Coons D-DE
- Amy Klobuchar D-MN
- Martin Heinrich D-NM
- Jeff Merkley D-OR
- Alejandro Padilla D-CA
- Sheldon Whitehouse D-RI
- Chris Van Hollen D-MD
Who scored on this bill
- 1Jon Tester SponsorDrew cross-party cosponsors, introduced2 events+6
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Introductions and cosponsorships count toward weekly caps and show no points.
Other bills by Jon Tester
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- S. 4921: Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025
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History
- Introduced in the Senate by Jon Tester.
Show the full action history (3 actions)
- Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- Introduced in Senate
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.