Kelly’s Bipartisan Bill to Support Gold Star Spouses Passes Senate 

This week, the Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Eric Schmitt (R-MO) to expand access to job counseling services for Gold Star and surviving spouses. The Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act increases access to job counseling services for surviving spouses—spouses of service members who died while serving in the military—through the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program, a program within the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service at the Department of Labor. The program provides every state with funding to hire dedicated workforce specialists to give individualized career counseling support with localized knowledge to eligible veterans, and the Senators’ bill expands access to these services to surviving spouses.  

“I am pleased the Senate passed this important bill that honored our commitment to the families of service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” said Kelly. “Expanding access to these resources will provide critical support to families navigating unimaginable loss, helping them secure good-paying jobs and stability for their futures. I’m proud to see this bipartisan effort move closer to becoming law.” 

“We owe it to the families of fallen service members to do all that we can to support them after their devastating loss,” said Hassan. “This bipartisan bill will ensure that surviving spouses have access to job counseling services and will help address some of the employment challenges that the families of those who have served face. I urge my colleagues in the House to work with us to get this commonsense bill across the finish line as part of our ongoing efforts to live up to our promise to support military families.” 

“The families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice deserve the best we have to offer,” said Cassidy. “Passing this bill is the first step toward ensuring Gold Star spouses always have access to the services they need.”