Health Professionals Scholarship Program Improvement Act of 2025
Click any stage to learn more about the legislative process.
This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer Health Professionals Scholarship Program graduates an employment contract within 90 days of completing their training — and would extend a comprehensive smoking ban to all Veterans Health Administration facilities, covering veterans, patients, employees, contractors, and visitors.
Together, the two provisions would tighten the pipeline of health professionals into VA care and close a longstanding gap in the VA's tobacco-free policy by explicitly covering e-cigarettes and vaping devices.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would make two distinct changes to federal law governing the Department of Veterans Affairs. First, it would require the VA Secretary to ensure that participants in the Health Professionals Scholarship Program — students who receive VA financial assistance in exchange for a service commitment — receive a formal employment contract within 90 days of completing their coursework or obtaining required licensure, whichever is later. That contract must offer full-time clinical practice at the VA facility with the highest need, and must include a competitive salary and benefits package. The requirement runs through FY2027, and the VA would have to submit biannual progress reports to the congressional veterans' affairs committees until September 30, 2027.
Second, the bill would rewrite 38 U.S.C. § 1715 to prohibit all smoking and electronic nicotine delivery — including e-cigarettes, vape pens, and e-cigars — on the premises of any VHA facility not under General Services Administration control. It would also repeal a superseded provision in the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992 that had previously governed the same subject.
Key provisions
- 1Would require the VA Secretary to provide Health Professionals Scholarship Program participants an employment contract within 90 days of completing their course or obtaining required licensure, whichever is later.
- 2Would require the employment contract to offer full-time clinical practice at the VA facility with the highest need, with a competitive salary and benefits package.
- 3Would require the Secretary to submit biannual reports to Congress on implementation of the 90-day employment requirement, terminating September 30, 2027.
- 4Would rewrite 38 U.S.C. § 1715 to prohibit all smoking — including e-cigarettes, vape pens, and e-cigars — on the premises of any VHA facility by any person, including veterans, employees, contractors, and visitors.
- 5Would repeal Section 526 of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, which previously governed smoking at VA facilities and is superseded by the rewritten prohibition.
Who would be affected
Students and recent graduates in the VA's Health Professionals Scholarship Program who are completing their clinical training and awaiting placement. Veterans and patients receiving care at VHA facilities, VHA employees, contractors, and visitors who currently smoke or use tobacco or electronic nicotine products on VA grounds. VA facility administrators responsible for implementing hiring timelines and enforcing the expanded smoking prohibition.
Why it matters
For scholarship program participants, the 90-day placement deadline would remove the uncertainty of open-ended post-graduation waiting periods before VA employment begins. For VHA facilities, the requirement to hire at the highest-need location could accelerate staffing in underserved areas. The smoking ban expansion to cover e-cigarettes and vaping closes a significant definitional gap, affecting every person who enters a VHA facility.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends 38 U.S.C. § 7616 (Sec. 2(a))
Adds a new subsection requiring VA to issue employment contracts to scholarship program graduates within 90 days, at highest-need facilities, with competitive pay and benefits.
Amends 38 U.S.C. § 1715 (Sec. 3(a))
Rewrites the section to extend the smoking prohibition to all persons on VHA premises and to explicitly cover electronic nicotine delivery systems including e-cigarettes and vape pens.
Repeals Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, Section 526 (Public Law 102-585) (Sec. 3(b))
Repeals the prior statutory smoking-at-VA provision that is superseded by the rewritten 38 U.S.C. § 1715.
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- First biannual VA report on scholarship employment contracts due
- Biannual reporting requirement on scholarship employment terminates
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates H.R. 3767 would have no significant effect on the federal deficit, with spending subject to appropriation of less than $500,000 over the 2025–2030 period.
CBO estimates that H.R. 3767 would have no effect on direct spending or revenues over the 2025–2035 period. The bill would require the VA to issue employment contracts to Health Professionals Scholarship Program graduates within 90 days of completion, but because VA is already required to employ these individuals, CBO expects no increase in staffing costs. The only estimated cost is less than $500,000 over the 2025–2030 period for a semiannual reporting requirement to Congress, and that spending would depend on future appropriations. The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates.
How implementation would work
The VA Secretary would determine which facilities have the "highest need" and ensure employment contracts meeting salary and benefits standards are issued within the 90-day window. Starting no later than 180 days after enactment, and every 180 days until September 30, 2027, the Secretary must report to both congressional veterans' affairs committees on implementation progress. The smoking prohibition is self-executing on enactment — no rulemaking timeline is specified — but VHA facilities would need to update posted signage and enforcement policies to cover electronic nicotine devices.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
This bill requires, through FY2027, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure a participant in the Health Professionals Scholarship program receives a contract for employment within 90 days of the completion of their courses. The program provides financial assistance to students in a direct or indirect health care services discipline in exchange for service in the Veterans Health Administration.
The contract must offer employment in the full-time clinical practice of the participant’s profession at a VA facility with the highest need.
Legislative subjects
Armed Forces and National Security; Congressional oversight; Department of Veterans Affairs; Employee hiring; Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management; Health personnel; Higher education; Student aid and college costs; Veterans' medical care
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-264