For the past decade, the month of May has statutorily been Hire a Veterans Month in Minnesota to urge employers to “give fair and appropriate consideration for hiring military veterans.”
Sponsored by Rep. Dale Lueck (R-Aitkin), HF1556 would move the designation to July.
Passed 129-0 by the House Tuesday, the bill now goes to the Senate where Sen. Jim Carlson (DFL-Eagan) is the sponsor.
Lueck said the change is requested because May is a busy month for people with school graduations, the fishing opener and Mother’s Day all happening.
Mike McElhiney, legislative director for the Department of Veterans Affairs, added that the department would like to better work with the Department of Employment and Economic Development which puts on some larger job fairs in July.
“In the past, we’ve had problems with announcing it’s Hire a Veterans Month, and then nothing really went on,” he told the House Veterans Affairs Division earlier this year. “We’ve heard a lot of feedback from DEED, from the public, from veterans that say ‘Why is this while I’m trying to finish school and graduate and finish my internship’ and so forth.”