{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://millermeeks.house.gov/media/press-releases/miller-meeks-brownley-introduce-legislation-support-va-healthcare-workers", "Miller-Meeks & Brownley Introduce Legislation to Support VA Healthcare Workers", "2021-06-04", "2021", "2021-06", "Republican", "House", "IA", "Mariannette Miller-Meeks", "M001215", "millermeeks.house.gov", "millermeeks", "https://millermeeks.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C.\u2014Today, June 4th, 2021, Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) and Julia Brownley (CA-26) introduced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Modernization Act. This legislation would, for the first time in 30 years, increase the amount of money the VA is permitted to reimburse clinical employees for continuing professional education expenses.\n\n\u201cEnsuring that our veterans have the best treatment possible at the VA is one of my top priorities in Congress. For too long, the VA has lost out on talented medical staff because of inadequate stipends for those employees seeking to continue their professional development,\u201d said Miller-Meeks. \u201cBy increasing the reimbursement amount for clinical employees, we will be able to increase retention and recruitment of medical staff at VA facilities. I am proud to introduce this commonsense legislation with Congresswoman Brownley.\u201d\n\n\u201cProviding allowances to reimburse tuition, course fees, and travel expenses associated with CPE will help make the VA a more competitive employer, which is necessary to provide the best care for our veterans who deserve nothing less,\u201d said Brownley. \u201cIt is an astonishing disservice to VA healthcare workers, and ultimately to our veterans, that in the past thirty years the allowance for these necessary expenses has not been updated \u2013 we can and must do better.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nThe VA CPE Modernization Act would:\n\nExpand the program from only board-certified physicians and dentists to all types of VA clinicians\n\nIncrease the limit for physicians and dentists to $4,000 per year\n\nEstablish a limit of $2,000 per year for nurses, psychologists, physician assistants, and other types of VA clinicians\n\nInclude a mechanism to allow the Secretary of Veterans\u2019 Affairs to adjust the annual caps in the future, based on inflation\n\nTo read the full text of the bill, click HERE.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:57:00Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://millermeeks.house.gov/media/press-releases/miller-meeks-brownley-introduce-legislation-support-va-healthcare-workers"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.6517659425735474, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}