10 U.S.C. § 1784 — Employment opportunities for military spouses

(a) Authority. The President must order measures the President considers necessary to increase employment opportunities for armed-forces spouses. They may include: (1) under section 3302 of title 5, excepting certain outside-the-United-States Department of Defense positions from the competitive service so qualified spouses can work near the member’s permanent duty station; and (2) giving qualified spouses preference for nonappropriated-fund jobs near the activity, for wage-grade UA-8 and lower and equivalent jobs and hourly-paid jobs. (b) Regulations. The Secretary of Defense must issue rules: (1) to implement the President’s measures; (2) to give qualified spouses hiring preference for a Department of Defense civilian job when the spouse is among the best-qualified applicants and the job is near the member’s permanent duty station; (3) to give notice of vacancies in a way reasonably designed to reach spouses stationed in the same geographic area; and (4) to ensure, as practicable, that an applying spouse is considered for Department jobs in that area. (c) Preference Eligibles. This section does not give a spouse preference over a “preference eligible” person. This section does not define that term. (d) Training Space. Under Secretary-prescribed rules, a military-department Secretary may make space in non-excess facilities under that Secretary’s control available to a non-Department of Defense entity to provide employment-related training for military spouses. (e) Other Federal Agencies. The Secretary must work with the Office of Personnel Management Director and other Federal department and agency heads to expand and make easier the use of existing Federal programs and resources supporting spouse employment. (f) Private Sector. The Secretary must seek partnerships with private firms to improve spouses’ employment and job portability, especially when a spouse follows a member to a new area after a permanent-duty-station change, and must work with the United States Chamber of Commerce and other suitable private entities to help form those partnerships. (g) DOD Contractors. The Secretary must examine and seek ways to include hiring preferences for qualified spouses in Department contracts with private entities. (h) Occupational-License Portability. (1) The Secretary must seek a cooperative agreement with the Council of State Governments to help fund interstate compacts on licensed occupations, reducing the burden of relicensing when a military spouse moves to another State because of a permanent duty-station change. (2) Assistance for one compact may not exceed $1,000,000. (3) Total assistance in one fiscal year may not exceed $4,000,000. (4) By February 28 each year, the Secretary must report to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on compacts developed with this assistance. The report must list (A) compacts developed in the preceding calendar year, the licenses they cover, and the agreeing States; and (B) earlier compacts joined by one or more additional States during the preceding calendar year. (i) Employment Fellowships. (1) The Secretary must run a program giving spouses paid fellowships, including in-person, remote, and hybrid fellowships, with employers in various industries. The Secretary must: (A) seek an agreement with an entity to conduct it; (B) set its capacity based on available appropriations; and (C) create criteria to evaluate its effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in supporting spouses’ employment. (2) Authority to run the program ends January 1, 2031.