# 119-hr-1242: Hire Veterans Act

119-hr-1242, Hire Veterans Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Crane, Elijah [R-AZ-2] (R-AZ); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-03).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1242
- As of: 2026-09-03
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-1242
- Congress: 119
- Title: Hire Veterans Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-02-12
- Sponsor: Rep. Crane, Elijah [R-AZ-2] (R-AZ)
- Cosponsors: 5
- Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-03

## Summary

**Creates a 5-year pilot to find, test, and refer veterans for noncompetitive hiring into Federal land-management jobs.** The program would match veterans' strengths to roles across firefighting, forestry, ecology, engineering, and other technical fields and send qualified candidates to agency hiring portals. - Veterans: Veterans could take tailored tests to show job-related strengths and abilities. If they pass, agencies could offer a noncompetitive career-conditional appointment; if not, veterans would be referred to agency training and re-tested until they qualify. - Federal land management agencies: The Forest Service, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Reclamation would receive referrals, administer the tests, create training programs, and may waive postsecondary credential rules when justified. - Program setup and oversight: The Director of the Office of Personnel Management, working with Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Interior, would launch the pilot within 1 year, publish application details on OPM's website, oversee hiring methods, and send annual reports to Congress. The pilot would run for 5 years.

## Cosponsors (5)

- Rep. Levin, Mike [D-CA-49] (D-CA), 2025-02-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Miller, Mary E. [R-IL-15] (R-IL), 2025-02-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gosar, Paul A. [R-AZ-9] (R-AZ), 2025-02-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Burchett, Tim [R-TN-2] (R-TN), 2025-03-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Steube, W. Gregory [R-FL-17] (R-FL), 2026-09-01T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Key terms for veteran hiring pilot: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would define the key terms used in the hiring pilot. It would name the five land agencies covered and use existing federal definitions for who is a veteran and what a recognized postsecondary credential is. It would also explain what a noncompetitive appointment means for this…
- Veteran hiring pilot at land agencies: mixed, low. If enacted, OPM would create a pilot to place veterans in jobs at the Forest Service, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife, BLM, and Reclamation. The pilot must start within 1 year and would end 5 years after it starts. OPM would issue testing guidance within 180 days and post program info onli…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-2395: SHORT Act
- 119-hr-404: Hearing Protection Act
- 119-hr-6466: Forced Abortion Prevention and Accountability Act
- 119-hr-4668: End the Vaccine Carveout Act
- 119-hr-2315: Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2025
- 119-hr-2126: FOCA Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-1242 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1242)

## Related
- [119-hr-2395: SHORT Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2395)
- [119-hr-404: Hearing Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-404)
- [119-hr-6466: Forced Abortion Prevention and Accountability Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6466)
- [119-hr-4668: End the Vaccine Carveout Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4668)
- [119-hr-2315: Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2315)
- [119-hr-2126: FOCA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2126)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1242 (as of 2026-09-03).