Amends TCA Title 33; Title 49; Title 58, Chapter 3; Title 63; Title 68 and Title 71.

ACCESS TO JOBS This bill requires the department of veteran's services to do the following: (1) Assist small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans and service-disabled veterans with obtaining loans from small business revolving loan funds, with a goal of 7 percent of those funds reaching such businesses annually; (2) Apply smart labor force data to direct veterans to in-demand fields by producing monthly electronic reports of workforce need projections, by industry, job type, geography, and needed credential; and (3) Distribute the monthly report to appropriate military out-placement offices, education centers, nonprofit programs, and department and agencies working to connect veterans with jobs. ACCESS TO OCCUPATIONAL LICENSES This bill establishes that veterans have the right to have state licensing boards recognize veterans' military training and experience. This bill requires the department to do the following: (1) Take all necessary steps to annually increase the number of veterans taking advantage of the federal motor carrier safety administration's Military Skills Test Waiver Program; (2) Coordinate with military placement and training programs, including the department of defense Credentialing Opportunities On-Line program, and disseminate information on such programs to veterans in this state, and relocating to this state, with relevant experience; (3) In conjunction with applicable departments, agencies, and boards, review licensing practices of emergency medical technicians, paramedics, physician assistants, and nurses in this state and take all necessary and appropriate steps to increase recognition of military training and experience toward in-state licensing that can be accomplished through the rule-making process; and (4) Review requirements for all state occupational licenses for which military members may have relevant training or experience and produce a report recommending steps that can be taken to increase recognition of military training and experience toward in-state licensing. ACCESS TO DEGREES AND CERTIFICATIONS This bill establishes that veterans have the right to be awarded college credit for related military experiences and training and have institutions of higher education be responsive to veteran-specific needs. Each veteran who enrolls as a student in good standing at a public institution of higher education in this state must be granted academic credit for completed courses that were part of the veteran's military training or service if the completed courses meet the standards of the American Council on Education or its equivalent for the awarding of academic credits. The credit must be granted upon application and without limitation toward the veteran's degree. This bill prohibits fees, tuition, or other charges from being assessed against the veteran for such credit. Public institutions of higher education are required to increase flexibility in course registration to reflect veterans' needs as follows: (1) Offering an early course registration period for students who are veterans or members of the military; (2) A student who is called to active service after having attended regularly for 13 weeks or more or having completed 85 percent of the term's course work through acceleration must be given full credit for each course in which the student has a grade of C or better; (3) A student who is called to active duty service that does not meet attendance requirements sufficient to receive full credit pursuant to (2) is entitled to a full refund of tuition and fees; (4) Veterans with no previous college experience must be permitted to file applications up to the end of the registration period and allowed to begin classes pending approval of their application and provision of supporting documents; and (5) Upon a release from active duty service, a veteran or service member may register after the end of a registration period, without being charged a late fee or other penalty. This bill establishes that veterans have the right to participate in proven, cost-effective training programs that leverage veterans' experiences. The department must annually review apprentice, training, and other vocational programs focused on providing job training and placement to returning military service members and veterans. The annual review must evaluate the costs and results of the programs, and the department must identify programs it recommends expanding with state or federal funds. ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE This bill establishes that veterans have the right to affordable health care. This bill requires the department to do the following: (1) Work to ensure all veterans can access the healthcare coverage and treatment they are eligible for based on their military service by developing and operating veteran health navigator services to increase access to affordable healthcare coverage and services; (2) Focus on activities that leverage existing resources and structures where veterans and their families are likely to be found; (3) Incorporate and empower veterans and their families in efforts to expand veterans' access to affordable, quality health care; (4) Examine existing programs that are designed to increase access to affordable quality health care and evaluate whether the needs of veterans and their families are met by those programs or whether further coordination with the veteran health navigators or other steps would better meet the needs of veterans and their families; and report findings and recommendations; and (5) Prepare a report analyzing any potential impact that Medicaid expansion would have on health care for veterans and their families in this state. ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES This bill establishes that veterans have a right to mental health services. This bill requires the department to do the following: (1) Ensure veterans and their families have access to mental health treatment, including treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide; (2) Include mental health coverage, services, and treatment as a focus of the veteran health navigator program, and require navigators to help identify federal and other mental health coverage, services, and treatment available to veterans and their families; (3) In coordination with local, state, and federal departments and agencies, and in consultation with nonprofit organizations and healthcare service providers that have effective prevention and treatment systems for mental health, develop and implement a strategy to reduce barriers to access to mental health services and treatment for veterans and their families; (4) Enhance and strengthen suicide prevention programs in keeping with proven best practices and research; (5) Work to connect veterans with trained mental health providers, including those trained in veteran suicide prevention, by creating a centralized provider database, identifying by grand division or region mental health providers qualified and available to assist veterans and their families, including highlighting providers with training or experience in assisting veterans or in the prevention and treatment of suicide; (6) Using existing resources, and incorporating best practices and research from the United States department of veterans' affairs, other departments and agencies, nonprofit organizations, and other service providers, develop a continuing education course for mental health providers to obtain expertise in veteran suicide assessment, prevention, treatment, and risk management and make the program available for free to providers; and (7) Identify evidence-based best practices to increase awareness of any veteran suicide prevention hotline in this state or nationally, and other crisis resources with proven effectiveness to reduce veteran suicide. ACCESS TO HOUSING This bill establishes that veterans have a right to secure and safe housing. The department is required to work toward the goal of ending veteran homelessness in this state, following guidelines established by the United States interagency council on homelessness. In coordination with local, state, and federal departments and agencies, and in consultation with nonprofit organizations, the department must develop and implement a strategy to meet this goal within three years. REPORTS The department is required to report findings and recommendations to the governor and the general assembly by February 1 of each year. The department must also publish the annual report on the department's website.