# Understanding the Driving Veterans Success Act

This bill creates a requirement that at least 10 percent of federal infrastructure money must go to businesses owned and controlled by veterans. When the government spends money on infrastructure projects—like building roads, bridges, broadband networks, or public transit systems—a meaningful portion of those contracts would need to flow to veteran-owned companies instead of going exclusively to larger corporations or other businesses.

The bill applies this requirement across most of the major infrastructure programs created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is the massive federal spending law passed in 2021 that allocated hundreds of billions of dollars for infrastructure improvements. Essentially, it's saying that when federal agencies hand out contracts for these projects, they need to actively set aside opportunities for veteran entrepreneurs. This affects how government agencies award contracts and which businesses get hired to do the actual work on infrastructure projects.

For veterans, this creates a meaningful economic opportunity. Many veterans struggle with the transition to civilian business ownership, and this bill gives veteran-owned companies a guaranteed shot at a significant slice of federal infrastructure spending. For taxpayers and the general public, the practical impact is likely minimal—the work still gets done on infrastructure projects, just with a requirement that some of it goes to veteran-owned firms. The bill essentially says the government should use its purchasing power to support veteran entrepreneurship as part of its broader infrastructure spending goals.

Driving Veterans Success Act

Kean, Thomas H.

Driving Veterans Success Act This bill requires that at least 10% of the funds under specified infrastructure programs are expended through veteran-owned small businesses.