House Approves LoBiondo Bill to Expand Paid Sick Leave for Veterans Hired by the FAA

WASHINGTON, DC – House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (WA-02) applauded House passage of their bipartisan legislation to close a loophole that prevents veterans hired by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from receiving paid sick leave benefits recently made available by the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015. The “FAA Veteran Transition Improvement Act” was unanimously approved by the House of Representatives. It now moves to the Senate for consideration.
LoBiondo’s statement for the record during last night’s House debate on the legislation reads as follows:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
H.R. 5957, the Federal Aviation Administration Veteran Transition Improvement Act, allows an important federal benefit to be extended to newly hired veterans at the FAA.  This commonsense piece of legislation corrects an oversight in the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act that was passed last year.  This act inadvertently excluded FAA employees from coverage.
One out of three veterans who served after September 11th report having a service-connected disability and more than two-thirds of those disabilities are rated 30% or higher.  Mr. Chairman, just in my district, there are more than 40,000 veterans, of whom many have the skill-sets and aviation background needed to succeed in highly technical FAA positions.
This bill can help ensure that a veteran’s service will not become an obstacle for future employment.  I appreciate the leadership and partnership of Mr. Larsen on this simple, important fix to an employment barrier for veterans in our nation.
I urge my colleagues to support the passage of H.R. 5957. Thank you.
The Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015 made up to 104 hours of paid sick leave available to most newly hired veteran federal employees with service-connected conditions rated as 30% or more disabled for the purposes of attending medical treatment related to these conditions. However, due to a loophole in the law, veterans hired by the FAA are ineligible for these new benefits.
Larsen and LoBiondo’s bill would close that loophole by requiring the FAA to prescribe policy and procedures that ensure disabled veterans have access to the new disabled veteran sick leave benefits that their counterparts in other agencies receive.
Between 2012 and 2016, the FAA hired between 150-350 veterans with a 30% or more disability rating each year. Currently, there are more than 650 veterans in Washington state, 245 veterans in New Jersey and 15,500 veterans nationally who work for the FAA.
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Federal Managers Association, FAA Managers Association, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, American Federation of Government Employees, American Legion, Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, National Air Traffic Controllers Association and Paralyzed Veterans of America all support this legislation.