The final budget
negotiations between the Virginia House and Senate have been completed and the
fate of some of our veteran/military related bills, two which were advocated by
the Joint Leadership Council
(JLC), have done well:
JLC Priority #1: Veterans Claims System (Turbo Vet) - Not only has the $50,000
that had been cut by the Governor been restored, but an additional
$100,000 has been added in the second year. So, we now have a total of
$150,000 to do pilot programs and to keep the program alive. This is much
better than we had hoped for.
JLC Priority #2: Interstate Compact - The budget amendment submitted by Delegate
Mark Cole only asked for $75,000 to pay dues to the Compact. However, the
Fiscal Impact Statement reported that a full time position was needed in
the Department of Education. We tried to tell them it was not needed and
that no other state has done it. Nevertheless, the budget conferees
provided $200,000 for the compact! This will fund the dues, a full time
position, and another $20,000 for travel and admin. This is much more than
we had expected. So, it looks like Virginia
will, in fact, join the Interstate Compact for Education of Military
Children.
Virginia Wounded Warrior Program - The Governor had cut $200,000 from the
program. That $200,000 has been restored.
Virginia War Memorial - The budget conferees have appropriated $6.5
million in real dollars. It is no longer a Treasury loan. At this point
there should be no obstacle to starting construction of the Galanti Education Center.
This was an extremely
tough year for all legislation. Yet, thanks to the hard work of a lot of people
from many of the JLC member Veterans service organizations (includes MOAA
chapters), we have done extremely well.