Fischer-Hirono Bill For Disabled FAA Vets Passes Senate

Press Release

Today, the U.S. Senate passed legislation to provide paid sick leave to disabled veterans employed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced the bipartisan bill, known as S. 2683, the FAA Veterans Transition Improvement Act, in March, 2016.

Senator Fischer released the following statement:

"Veterans working at the FAA have struggled to find the time and needed flexibility to receive medical treatment for their combat-related injuries. The FAA Veterans Transition Improvement Act corrects this problem. It provides these veterans with the same access to sick leave as their counterparts at other federal agencies. I was proud to work with Senator Hirono on this bipartisan bill and hope the House will take it up soon."

Senator Hirono released the following statement:

"Disabled veterans who work at the FAA and TSA currently are forced to take unpaid leave to treat service-related injuries. This is unacceptable. Passing this bill in the Senate today is the first step toward giving FAA and TSA veteran employees parity with their counterparts throughout the federal workforce. I am proud to have worked on this bipartisan bill with Senator Fischer, and urge my colleagues in the House to see this effort through."

The Fischer-Hirono bill expands access under the Wounded Warrior Federal Leave Act. In November 2015, that bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent and was signed into law. It provides disabled veteran employees of the federal government with a new category of paid leave, known as "disabled veteran leave." This allows them to undergo medical treatment for combat-related injuries without losing pay.

Nearly 15,000 veterans are employed by the FAA. But the FAA is not subject to the same personnel policies as other federal agencies. Any changes to their policy require Congressional action. Because of this, the Wounded Warrior Federal Leave Act does not apply to disabled veteran FAA employees.

To fix this problem and provide veteran FAA employees with the benefits they earned, Senators Fischer and Hirono introduced S. 2683, the FAA Veterans Transition Improvement Act on March 15, 2016. Without this legislation, veterans who begin working at the FAA will have zero sick days to use to seek treatment for the injuries they sustained serving our country.

The FAA Veterans Transition Improvement Act is supported by the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), Federal Managers Association (FMA), and Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS).

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