S. 5406: VA Salary Cap Waiver Adjustment Act

This bill would change a Veterans Affairs pay rule that limits when the VA can waive salary caps for certain

critical health care personnel

In plain terms, the bill would do two main things:

• Remove one existing restriction on the VA’s ability to grant pay waivers for certain critical health care jobs.

• Set a time limit so that this waiver authority would end five years after the bill becomes law.

The bill amends section 7431(e)(6) of title 38 of the U.S. Code, which governs how the Department of Veterans Affairs can use special pay flexibility for hard-to-fill health care positions. By striking one of the subparagraphs in that section and renumbering the rest, the bill simplifies and changes the conditions under which the VA can use this waiver authority.

In practical terms, the likely effect is that the VA would have more flexibility to pay some key medical staff more competitively for a limited period of time, which could help with recruiting and retaining workers in certain essential roles. After five years, the special waiver authority added or modified by this bill would expire unless Congress acts again.

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