President Obama’s
FY 2014 budget plan revives a $1 billion veteran’s employment initiative legislators blocked last year due to its big price tag. One part of his initiative calls for the creation of a Veterans Job Corps capable of putting 20,000 veterans, primarily those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, to work within the next five years in conservation, law enforcement, and infrastructure jobs on public lands. The U.S. Labor Department estimates that about 12.1% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are unemployed, compared with 9.1% of Americans nationwide.
Other Obama proposals for increasing veterans’ job opportunities include:
- developing back-to-work programs with other federal agencies, including the departments of the Interior and Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Army Corps of Engineers and
- supporting job-producing projects with contracts and grants with non-federal organizations, such as states, nonprofits, and private businesses.
