text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
       This Act may be cited as the ``State Veterans Home Nurse 
  Recruitment Act of 2004''.
  
  SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR HIRING AND RETENTION OF NURSES AT STATE VETERANS 
                HOMES.
  
      (a) In General.--(1) Chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, is 
  amended by inserting after section 1743 the following new section:
  ``Sec. 1744. Hiring and retention of nurses: payments to assist States
      ``(a) Payment Program.--The Secretary shall make payments to States 
  under this section for the purpose of assisting State homes in the 
  hiring and retention of nurses and the reduction of nursing shortages 
  at State homes.
      ``(b) Eligible Recipients.--Payments to a State for a fiscal year 
  under this section shall, subject to submission of an application, be 
  made to any State that during that year--
              ``(1) receives per diem payments under this subchapter for 
          that fiscal year; and
              ``(2) has in effect an employee incentive scholarship 
          program or other employee incentive program at a State home 
          designed to promote the hiring and retention of nursing staff 
          and to reduce nursing shortages at that home.
      ``(c) Use of Funds Received.--A State may use an amount received 
  under this section only to provide funds for a program described in 
  subsection (b)(2). Any program shall meet such criteria as the 
  Secretary may prescribe. In prescribing such criteria, the Secretary 
  shall take into consideration the need for flexibility and innovation.
      ``(d) Limitations on Amount of Payment.--(1) A payment under this 
  section may not be used to provide more than 50 percent of the costs 
  for a fiscal year of the employee incentive scholarship or other 
  incentive program for which the payment is made.
      ``(2) The amount of the payment to a State under this section for 
  any fiscal year is, for each State home in that State with a program 
  described in subsection (b)(2), the amount equal to 2 percent of the 
  amount of payments estimated to be made to that State, for that State 
  home, under section 1741 of this title for that fiscal year.
      ``(e) Applications.--A payment under this section for any fiscal 
  year with respect to any State home may only be made based upon an 
  application submitted by the State seeking the payment with respect to 
  that State home. Any such application shall describe the nursing 
  shortage at the State home and the employee incentive scholarship 
  program or other incentive program described in subsection (c) for 
  which the payment is sought.
      ``(f) Source of Funds.--Payments under this section shall be made 
  from funds available for other payments under this subchapter.
      ``(g) Disbursement.--Payments under this section to a State home 
  shall be made as part of the disbursement of payments under section 
  1741 of this title with respect to that State home.
      ``(h) Use of Certain Receipts.--The Secretary shall require as a 
  condition of any payment under this section that, in any case in which 
  the State home receives a refund payment made by an employee in breach 
  of the terms of an agreement for employee assistance that used funds 
  provided under this section, the payment shall be returned to the State 
  home's incentive program account and credited as a non-Federal funding 
  source.
      ``(i) Annual Report From Payment Recipients.--Any State home 
  receiving a payment under this section for any fiscal year, shall, as a 
  condition of the payment, be required to agree to provide to the 
  Secretary a report setting forth in detail the use of funds received 
  through the payment, including a descriptive analysis of how effective 
  the incentive program has been on nurse staffing in the State home 
  during that fiscal year. The report for any fiscal year shall be 
  provided to the Secretary within 60 days of the close of the fiscal 
  year and shall be subject to audit by the Secretary. Eligibility for a 
  payment under this section for any later fiscal year is contingent upon 
  the receipt by the Secretary of the annual report under this subsection 
  for the previous year in accordance with this subsection.
      ``(j) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to 
  carry out this section. The regulations shall include the establishment 
  of criteria for the award of payments under this section.''.
      (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is 
  amended by inserting after section 1743 the following new item:
  
  ``1744. Hiring and retention of nurses: payments to assist States.''.
      (b) Implementation.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
  implement section 1744 of title 38, United States Code, as added by 
  subsection (a), as expeditiously as possible. The Secretary shall 
  establish such interim procedures as necessary so as to ensure that 
  payments are made to eligible States under that section commencing not 
  later than January 1, 2005, notwithstanding that regulations under 
  subsection (j) of that section may not have become final.
target: State Veterans Home Nurse Recruitment Act of 2004 - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make payments to States for assisting State veterans' homes in the hiring and retention of nurses and the reduction of nursing shortages at such homes. Makes eligible for such assistance State homes that: (1) currently receive per diem payments from the Secretary for the care of veterans; and (2) have in effect an employee incentive scholarship or other program designed to promote the hiring and retention of nursing staff and reduce nursing shortages. Limits such assistance to no more than 50 percent of the fiscal year costs of such a program.
  
  Requires the assistance program to be implemented as expeditiously as possible, so that payments are made to eligible States commencing no later than January 1, 2005.
feat_title: To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish within the Department of Veterans Affairs a program to assist the States in hiring and retaining nurses at State veterans homes.