119-s423

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 423 Enrolled Bill

    (ENR) ]

 S.423

 One Hundred Nineteenth Congress

 of the

 United States of America

 AT THE FIRST SESSION

 Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday,
 the third day of January, two thousand and twenty five

 An Act

 To protect regular order for budgeting for the Department of Veterans 
 Affairs, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PROTECTING REGULAR ORDER FOR VETERANS.

    (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Protecting 
Regular Order for Veterans Act of 2025'' or the ``PRO Veterans Act of 
2025''.

    (b) Quarterly Briefings on Department of Veterans Affairs Budgetary 
Shortfalls.--

    (1) Quarterly briefings.--
        (A) Quarterly briefings required.--During the first quarter 
 beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act and in 
 each quarter thereafter until the date that is three years 
 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs shall provide to the appropriate committees of 
 Congress a quarterly briefing, in person, on the budget of the 
 Department of Veterans Affairs and any shortfall the Department 
 may be experiencing.
        (B) Plans.--In any case in which the Secretary informs 
 Congress during a briefing under paragraph

    (1) that the 
 Department is experiencing a shortfall, the Secretary shall, 
 during such briefing, present the plans of the Secretary to 
 address or mitigate the shortfall.

    (2) === Definitions. ===
-In this subsection:
        (A) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
 ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
            (i) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the 
 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
            (ii) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the 
 Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
 Representatives.
        (B) Shortfall.--The term ``shortfall'', with respect to a 
 fiscal year, means that the amount of appropriations required 
 by the Department of Veterans Affairs for such fiscal year to 
 meet all of the statutory obligations of the Department during 
 that fiscal year exceeds the amount of appropriations requested 
 for the Department for that fiscal year in the budget of the 
 President submitted pursuant to 

section 1105

    (a) of title 31, 
 United States Code, for that fiscal year.
            (c) Limitations on Provision of Incentives for Critical Skills to 
Senior Executive Service Employees of Department of Veterans Affairs.--

Section 706
            (d) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
 ``

    (7)
        (A) Subject to subparagraph
        (B)
            (ii) , a critical skill 
incentive may not be provided under paragraph

    (1) to an employee of the 
Department employed in a Senior Executive Service position, or a 
position in another comparable system for senior-level Government 
employees, as defined by the Secretary, whose position is at the 
Central Office of the Department, including the Veterans Health 
Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National 
Cemetery Administration, regardless of the actual location where the 
employee performs the functions of the position.
 ``
        (B)
            (i) A critical skill incentive provided under paragraph

    (1) to 
an employee of the Department employed in a Senior Executive Service 
position, or a position in another comparable system for senior-level 
Government employees, as defined by the Secretary, not described in 
subparagraph
        (A) of this paragraph may only be provided--
 ``
            (I) on an individual basis and may not be provided to a group 
 of such employees; and
 ``
            (II) upon approval of the following officers or those serving 
 in an acting capacity:
 ``

    (aa) The Under Secretary for Benefits, the Under 
 Secretary for Health, or the Under Secretary for Memorial 
 Affairs.
 ``

    (bb) The Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and 
 Administration.
 ``
            (cc) The Director of the Office of Management or the 
 Chief Financial Officer.
 ``
            (dd) The Assistant Secretary for Accountability and 
 Whistleblower Protection.
 ``

    (ee) The General Counsel.
 ``

    (ff) Such other officers as the Secretary determines 
 appropriate.
 ``
            (ii) In the case of an employee of the Department employed in a 
Senior Executive Service position, or a position in another comparable 
system for senior-level Government employees, as defined by the 
Secretary, whose position is primarily at the Central Office of the 
Department, but who performs some portion of the employee's job 
function at other facilities of the Department, as defined by the 
Secretary, not at Central Office--
 ``
            (I) the employee shall not be considered described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) with respect to the portion of the employee's job 
 function that is based out of non-Central Office facilities of the 
 Department; and
 ``
            (II) any critical skill incentive provided under paragraph

    (1) to the employee for the portion of the employee's job function 
 that is based out of facilities of the Department other than the 
 Central Office shall be proportionate to the time spent at those 
 Department facilities.
 ``
            (C) 
            (i) Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of 
the Protecting Regular Order for Veterans Act of 2025, and not less 
frequently than once each year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 
to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives an annual report 
on the employees of the Department employed in a Senior Executive 
Service position, or a position in another comparable system for 
senior-level Government employees, as defined by the Secretary, who 
were provided a critical skill incentive under paragraph

    (1) .
 ``
            (ii) Reports submitted pursuant to clause
            (i) may be submitted by 
incorporating their contents into other congressionally mandated 
reports to the committees described in such clause.
 ``
            (D) In this paragraph, the term `Senior Executive Service 
position' has the meaning given such term in 

section 3132

    (a) of title 
5.''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF VETERANS EXPERIENCE OFFICE.

    (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Improving 
Veterans' Experience Act of 2025''.

    (b) Establishment.--

    (1) In general.--Chapter 3 of title 38, United States Code, is 
 amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``

Sec. 325. Veterans experience office
 ``

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Department within 
the Office of the Secretary an office to be known as the `Veterans 
Experience Office' (in this section referred to as the `Office').
 ``

    (b) Head of Office.--

    (1) The head of the Office shall be the 
Chief Veterans Experience Officer.
 ``

    (2) The Chief Veterans Experience Officer shall--
 ``
        (A) be appointed by the Secretary from among individuals the 
 Secretary considers qualified to perform the duties of the 
 position;
 ``
        (B) report directly to the Secretary; and
 ``
            (C) be responsible for carrying out the functions of the 
 Office set forth under subsection
            (c) .
 ``
            (c) Function.--The functions of the Office are as follows:
 ``

    (1) Carrying out the key customer experience initiatives of 
 the Department relating to veterans' and other beneficiaries' 
 satisfaction with and usage of benefits and services furnished 
 under laws administered by the Secretary for which they are 
 eligible, including setting the strategy, framework, policy, and 
 other guidance for the Department relating to customer experience, 
 including ensuring the activities of the Office and those of other 
 organizations and offices within the Department are coordinated and 
 not duplicative.
 ``

    (2) Requiring the heads of other organizations and offices 
 within the Department to report regularly on customer experience 
 metrics, action plans, and other customer experience improvement 
 efforts to the Chief Veterans Experience Officer.
 ``

    (3) Collecting veteran-derived data--
 ``
        (A) to determine veteran and beneficiary satisfaction 
 with and usage of the benefits and services furnished under 
 laws administered by the Secretary for which they are eligible; 
 and
 ``
        (B) to be considered during policymaking.
 ``

    (4) Providing strategic guidance and strategies to Department 
 entities for engaging with veterans and beneficiaries regarding 
 benefits and services furnished under laws administered by the 
 Secretary, including those not using such benefits and services.
 ``

    (5) Assessing and advising the Secretary on the accuracy and 
 helpfulness of the websites and other customer-facing information 
 of the Department, be it available electronically or in any other 
 format.
 ``

    (6) Assessing and advising the Secretary on the status and 
 opportunities for improvement of the customer service efforts of 
 the Department.
 ``
            (d) Reports.--

    (1) Each year, the Chief Veterans Experience 
Officer shall submit to the Secretary a summary of the data received by 
the Chief Veterans Experience Officer under subsection
            (c) (2) .
 ``

    (2) Each year, not later than 180 days after the date on which 
the Secretary receives the summary under paragraph

    (1) , the Secretary 
shall submit to Congress an annual summary and analysis of the matters 
summarized pursuant to such paragraph.
 ``

    (3) Each annual summary submitted pursuant to paragraph

    (2) shall 
include the following:
 ``
        (A) Data regarding customer service and experience feedback, 
 disaggregated by benefit or service furnished under laws 
 administered by the Secretary, and relevant demographic data of the 
 veterans and beneficiaries providing the feedback.
 ``
        (B) Data regarding veteran and beneficiary satisfaction with 
 and usage of benefits or services, disaggregated by benefit or 
 service furnished under laws administered by the Secretary, and 
 relevant demographic data of the veterans and beneficiaries 
 providing the feedback, including--
 ``
            (i) potential reasons for not using the benefits or 
 services, such as--
 ``
            (I) eligibility;
 ``
            (II) lack of knowledge or awareness of existence of 
 benefit or service;
 ``
            (III) barriers of technology, information, or time; 
 and
 ``
            (IV) other related reasons; and
 ``
            (ii) an analysis of how such reasons may be addressed.
 ``

    (e) Staff and Resources.--

    (1) The Secretary shall ensure that--
 ``
        (A) the Office has such staff, resources, and access to 
 customer service and experience information as may be necessary to 
 carry out the functions of the Office; and
 ``
        (B) any information provided to the Office does not include 
 personally identifiable information of an individual veteran, 
 survivor, dependent, or other beneficiary unless such individual 
 provides appropriate consent to allow such information to be shared 
 with the Office.
 ``

    (2) Funds available for basic pay and other administrative 
expenses of other Department organizations and offices may be available 
to reimburse the Office for all services provided at rates which will 
recover actual costs for services provided to such organizations if the 
Secretary determines that contributing to such costs will not undermine 
the ability of any such organization or office to provide services 
required by such office.
 ``

    (3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize an 
increase in the number of full-time employees otherwise authorized for 
the Department.
 ``

    (f) Privacy.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
authorize the Chief Veterans Experience Officer to disclose any record 
in contravention of 

section 552a of title 5 (commonly referred to as 
the `Privacy Act of 1974').
 ``

    (g) Sunset.--The requirements and authorities of this section 
shall terminate on September 30, 2028.''.

    (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning 
 of chapter 3 of such title is amended by adding at the end the 
 following new item:
``325. Veterans Experience Office.''.
            (c) Comptroller General of the United States Review of Veterans 
Experience Office and Customer Service Improvement Efforts.--Not later 
than 540 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall--

    (1) complete an analysis of the methodology, effectiveness, and 
 implementation of findings and feedback of veterans and 
 beneficiaries used by the Department of Veterans Affairs, including 
 the Veterans Experience Office, to improve veteran and beneficiary 
 customer experience and satisfaction, including through the use of 
 what are known as ``trust-scores'', Veteran Signals also known as 
 ``VSignals'', and related survey and data collection activities, 
 processes, and initiatives; and

    (2) submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate 
 and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
 Representatives a report setting forth the findings of the 
 Comptroller General with respect to the analysis completed pursuant 
 to paragraph

    (1) .

 Speaker of the House of Representatives.

 Vice President of the United States and 
 President of the Senate.