VA Police Recruitment and Retention Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Representative Kennedy (NY)
In Committee
Summary
Would protect VA law enforcement positions from classification downgrades. It would stop VA officials, the Office of Personnel Management, and other agencies from proposing, initiating, or carrying out downgrades of those roles.
Show full summary
- VA law enforcement employees would be shielded from losing grade or pay. Downgrades proposed, initiated, or carried out between Oct 1, 2025 and the bill's enactment would be void and affected workers would be returned to prior status and paid what they lost.
- Federal agencies and funding would be limited. The bill would bar the use of Federal funds to propose, initiate, or carry out downgrades of covered VA positions.
- Implementation rules would be clarified. "Covered VA position" would mean any role that performs law enforcement functions at the VA regardless of funding or employment status. "Position downgrade" would include consistency reviews, incumbent-only reviews, or similar classification actions that could reduce grade or pay.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Protect VA law enforcement jobs
If enacted, the bill would bar VA, OPM, and other agencies from proposing, starting, or carrying out downgrades of VA law enforcement jobs. It would also bar the use of Federal funds to start or carry out those downgrades. Any downgrade proposed, started, or carried out between October 1, 2025 and the bill's enactment would be void. If your covered VA law enforcement job was downgraded in that period, your job would be returned to its prior status and you would receive all pay you would have been entitled to. The bill would define a "covered VA position" to include any VA law enforcement role (full-time, part-time, temporary, or intermittent) and to cover positions regardless of their funding source. It would define "position downgrade" to include consistency reviews, incumbent-only reviews, and similar classification actions that can lower a position's grade or pay.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Kennedy (NY)
NY • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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