Description:
S. 2594 would expand the number of veterans who are eligible for veterans’ preference in federal hiring by granting such preference to all retired members of the armed forces (instead of only those who are disabled or who retired below the rank of major or its equivalent) and to all veterans who served for more than 180 total days during certain periods of time (instead of 180 consecutive days). Implementing S. 2594 could cause agencies to modify existing administrative processes, but CBO estimates that the costs associated with those changes would be insignificant. Because the bill would not generally change the size of the federal government, its mission, or the compensation paid to its employees, CBO does not estimate any other costs from implementing the bill. Enacting S. 2594 could affect direct spending by some agencies that are allowed to use fees, receipts from the sale of goods, and other collections to cover operating costs. CBO estimates that any net changes in direct spending by those agencies would be negligible because most of them can adjust amounts collected to reflect changes in operating costs.