Congress expands job services to surviving military spouses
H.R. 3031 — Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act · Filed by Don Bacon (R-NE) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Apr 28, 2025 · Hearing held
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What it does
This bill expands the disabled veterans' outreach program to include surviving spouses of deceased service members and Gold Star spouses. Currently, the program serves disabled veterans and certain eligible persons; this amendment adds spouses of those who died in service or from service-connected disabilities to the list of people eligible for career counseling and job placement services.
Why we flagged it
The bill straightforwardly expands an existing federal benefit program (disabled veterans' outreach) to include a new eligible population (surviving spouses). It is a routine eligibility amendment with no hidden mechanisms or narrow carve-outs.
What the text implies
- The definition of 'eligible person' in new subsection (e) references section 4101(5), which is not quoted in this bill. The full scope of who qualifies depends on that external definition and is not visible in this text alone.
- Removal of 'non-veteran-related' language in subsection (d)(1)(B) may broaden the types of services or support available to eligible persons beyond what was previously offered, though the bill does not specify what services are now included.
- No appropriations are specified in this bill; expansion of services depends on existing or future funding for the disabled veterans' outreach program.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Surviving spouses of service members who died in service or from service-connected disabilities gain access to career counseling and job placement services at no cost to them. This expands a public benefit to a population with documented economic vulnerability and no prior access to these services.
Named in the bill
Department of Veterans Affairs, disabled veterans' outreach program, 38 U.S.C. § 4103A, 38 U.S.C. § 4101(5), surviving spouses, Gold Star spouses
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Apr 28, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 28, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Veterans' Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs”
- Jun 11, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,168 characters) on May 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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