In procuring goods and services, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides a special preference to firms owned and controlled by veterans with service-connected disabilities. Under current law, surviving spouses of veterans whose service-connected disabilities were rated at 100 percent are eligible to retain that preferential contracting status for up to 10 years after the veteran’s death. H.R. 5044 would authorize similar treatment for surviving spouses of veterans whose service-connected disabilities were rated at less than 100 percent. Those spouses would be allowed to retain priority for obtaining contracts for up to three years.
