Orange County, California has officially enacted a new policy aimed at improving veterans’ employment prospects in addition to adopting a separate policy that will see the county facilitate its own version of the state’s Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) program.
The two policy changes were brought about after several veteran CEOs and veterans service organization Veteran Strong USA began lobbying Orange County Supervisor Michele Steel’s veterans office to implement the changes.
Veteran Strong USA was founded by U.S. Air Force veteran Ted Fuentes and aims to improve veterans lives in California through legislative action. The group primarily focuses on assisting veterans, disabled veterans, and aging veterans in California.
The first policy change will ensure that veterans and their spouses will automatically enter the interview phase for any county job they apply for so long as they meet the minimum requirements for said position.
There is no limit to how many veterans or veteran spouses can take advantage of this new perk per job opening. The policy was unanimously approved on Sept. 15 by the Orange County Board of Supervisors. In a press release relating to the policy change, Chairwoman Steel said, “Orange County’s veterans employment preference policy will be the most veteran friendly county program in the state.”
The second policy recommendation pushed by Veteran Strong USA received similar approval on Oct. 6. This policy change will see Orange County adopt a version of California’s DVBE program, which ensures that businesses owned by disabled veterans receive at least 3% of all state government contracts. However, Orange County’s DVBE program will increase that rate to 5%, or up to 8% if businesses meet specific criteria.
Author: Christian Southards
Coming from a family with a proud military background and wanting to contribute his writing skills to a worthy cause, Christian began writing for the California American Legion in August of 2020. His father is a 25-year Army Veteran and his grandfather served in the Navy during Vietnam.
