Yesterday, President Obama announced the details of the American Jobs Act from the Rose Garden, and there are some amazing new benefits proposed for Veterans and Wounded Warriors. You can download the entire
here.
"The American Jobs Act of 2011 puts more people back to work, including teachers laid off by State budget cuts, first responders and veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan..." - President Obama.
A Few Highlights for Veterans and Wounded Warriors
Section 201 – Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Work Opportunity Tax Credits.
- Under current law, employers that hire veterans who have been unemployed for at least 6 months and have a service-connected disability are eligible for a maximum tax credit of $4,800. This section increases the amount of that credit to $9,600.
- This section also creates two new hiring credits for veterans. The first is a credit of $2,400 for employers that hire veterans who have been unemployed for at least 4 weeks. The second is credit of $5,600 for veterans who have been unemployed for at least 6 months.
- Under this section, these credits are also available to tax exempt entities and public universities.
- Finally, this section authorizes the Secretary of the treasury to provide alternative methods for certifying a veteran’s unemployed status.
Additional Focus on Veterans Hiring
In addition, in case you missed it, the President announced last month that the American Legion National Convention that he was launching a new Initiative that designed to help transitioning veterans find jobs.
President Obama also directed DoD and VA to create a “reverse boot camp” to help veterans transition into the civilian workforce. President Obama stated that Congress should place this issue “at the top of the agenda.”
“For the sake of our veterans, for the sake of our economy, we need these veterans working and contributing and creating the new jobs and industries that will keep America competitive in the 21st century,” President Obama said to a packed Legion audience last month in Minnesota.