We are now in the action-packed months of the 118th Congress and several issues continue to be discussed that are in line with NOVA’s 2023 Legislative Priority Goals.

Senate VA Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-MT) and committee member John Boozman (R-AR) introduced S.10, the VA Careers Act, which passed out of Committee in February.  

The bill would provide modification of pay limitations for specialty clinical positions and increase pay caps for certain leadership positions in VHA . It also allows VA to pay for licensure costs for recipients of VA scholarship programs; expands leave options for clinicians during national emergencies; provides reimbursement for continuing education costs for all levels of nurses; and modernize ‘s VA’s human resources program. 

NOVA is strongly supporting the bill as it contains several provisions that will provide VA with needed to recruit, retain and Bolstering Care for Veterans Aim of Bipartisan Tester.

NOVA was asked to participate in a Senate VA Committee staff panel about workforce issues pertaining to the bill.  The panel was set up to gather stakeholder information about what is working and not working within VA per R&R, staffing, HR Modernization, and use of congressional authorities provided in the RAISE and PACT Act. The discussion was not made public as SVAC will be hosting a live hearing on Wednesday, March 22 to discuss same issues with VA leadership.

NOVA continues to meet with committee staff and others on the importance of providing VHA with the tools it needs to attract and retain the best healthcare providers and compete with the private sector.

S.10 and other issues came up last week during our Hill Day events in Washington, D.C.as
NOVA members met with congressional offices to discuss all of these issues and local priorities. 

Other issues that have been talked about in various hearings include:

VA electronic health record modernization (EHRM) program. Reports of system slowdowns and outages, and patient safety concerns as well as the departure of Terry Adirim, the Director of the EHRM Integration Office and the recent announcement that Deputy VA Secretary Donald Remy, who oversees the EHR implementation, will step down on April 1 have many House and Senate VA Committee members concerned. Bills introduced on the House side call on stricter enforcement of deadlines and possibly scraping the whole program altogether. The Senate does not seem inclined to go along with House bills, but has called for tougher terms, discounted prices, and a narrower set of tasks for Oracle, as well as severe penalties for poor performance.

Implementation of PACT Act. Since the bill was signed into law, implementation has been key – Congress continues to ask VA to update them on number of toxic disability ratings claims, healthcare outcomes and how they are utilizing technology to provide quick access to care and services under the law.

VA Leadership Accountability. Several members of Congress want to change the structure so that VA does not have to endure leadership turnover with every change in Presidential Administration. HVAC subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations Ranking Member Frank Mrvan introduced a bill that would call for the Under Secretary of Health to be in his/her position for five-year term. Protections for workers were also discussed along with details that employees are encouraged to report to either the Office of Whistleblower Protection (OWP) or to their supervisor’s chain of command.

Stay tuned as we move into budget and appropriations season and things really begin to heat up – as always, I will continue to monitor all policy-related issues as they pertain to VA and what all of you do every day to take care of Veterans!