Congressman MacArthur creates business incentives for hiring vets (Listen)

“I believe strongly that service in our nation should not result in a lifetime of financial struggle." That's from Congressman Tom MacArthur as we discussed what he's doing to serve our former military members, and create business incentives for hiring veterans.

“We have more veterans that are unemployed in New Jersey than any state in the country except for one," said MacArthur. However, things are particularly bad for young vets.

MacArthur's work to serve our military though various congressional committees has recently manifested itself in the National Defense Authorization Act, which saves jobs at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst through a bill that he expects President Obama to sign into law today. This bill would, among other things, also require the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs to work together for the first time on transition programs for retiring veterans.

Turning to the private sector, MacArthur also cosponsored the Hire More Heroes bill, which creates an incentive for small business owners to hire veterans. According to the congressman, any business with 50 or more employees is required under Obamacare to provide health care for those worker.

"That was stopping at a lot of small biz from wanting to get near that cliff," said MacArthur. "And so this says that if a veteran already has healthcare, which most of them do, that it doesn’t count toward the 50 person threshold.”

It's a simple change, but it makes a huge difference, and it goes beyond just making people aware of the challenges our military members face when they return to the civilian workforce..

“Businesses want to hire veterans that have unique disciplines and experience and skills, and this just gives them another reason to do that," said MacArthur.

Bill Spadea is host of the Chasing News TV program. He periodically fills in for NJ 101.5 show hosts, and you can daily hear his opinion about all things New Jersey here, or by tweeting @BillSpadea.