Federal Daily - December 31, 2008

Some Vets to See Another Travel Reimbursement Hike

Service-disabled and low-income vets who are reimbursed for health care-related travel expenses will see an increase in their payments starting Jan. 9, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced on Dec. 29. Under a new rate structure, the deductible amount will be $3 for each one-way trip and $6 for each round trip—with a calendar cap of $18, or six one-way trips or three round trips, whichever comes first. The previous deductible was $7.77 for a one-way trip, and $15.54 for a round trip, with a calendar cap of $46.62, VA said in a statement. The deductible decrease is another in a series of adjustments that benefit veterans, VA said. VA this year increased the mileage reimbursement rate from 28.5 cents to 41.5 cents a mile. Service-disabled and low-income veterans are eligible to be reimbursed by VA for the costs o travel to receive health care or counseling at VA facilities. Veterans traveling for compensation and pension examinations also qualify for mileage reimbursement.  VA also can waive deductibles if they cause financial hardship. To see more, go to: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1633.

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USDA Scholars Program Accepting Applications

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Dec. 29 announced it was accepting applications to its USDA/1890 National Scholars Program for the 2009 academic year. Applications from high school seniors must be postmarked no later than Feb.1, 2009. Students are required to work one year at USDA for each year of college scholarship awarded under the program. USDA/1890 scholarship recipients receive full tuition, fees, books, use of laptop computers and printers, software, employment and benefits for each of the four years they pursue a bachelor’s degree. For each year of the scholarship, students also receive room and board provided by the partnering institutions. Since 1992, USDA has funded scholarships for approximately 451 students and has hired graduates of the program into career positions at the agency. The scholarship program between USDA and the 1890 land-grant universities and Tuskegee University is designed to expand diversity through the recruitment of talented students into public service in agriculture-related fields, including food sciences, natural resource sciences and agricultural sciences. “This program is a great partnership. College-bound students benefit from a terrific educational opportunity,” said USDA Secretary Ed Schafer. To see more, go to: www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1RD?printable=true
&contentidonly=true&contentid=2008/12/0313.xml.

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VA Ramps Up Job Search for Injured Vets

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced on Dec. 30 it was redoubling its efforts to increase the number of disabled vets employed in the agency workforce. All severely injured veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be contacted by VA’s Veterans Employment Coordination Service (VECS) to determine their interest in—and qualifications for—VA jobs, the department said in a statement. So far, VA has identified 2,300 severely injured veterans of those wars, of whom 600 have expressed interest in VA employment. The coordination service was established a year ago to recruit veterans into VA, especially those seriously injured in the current wars. The effort has nine regional coordinators working with local human resources offices across the country to reach out to potential job candidates and remind local VA managers about the special authorities that are available to hire vets. For example, qualified disabled veterans rated by DoD or VA as having a 30 percent or more service-connected disability can be hired non-competitively. “Our team is spreading the message that VA is hiring, and we want to hire disabled veterans,” said Dennis O. May, VECS director. To see more, go to: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1634.

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