McDonnell reveals plan to boost veterans' services

RICHMOND

Shorter lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles, an easier time obtaining retail discounts, and better access to education, employment and medical services could be on the way for Virginia's military personnel and veterans through an agenda unveiled by the governor this week.

Speaking to about 20 veterans - members of the Joint Leadership Council of Veterans Service Organizations - Gov. Bob McDonnell vowed to "continue to make Virginia the most veteran-friendly state in America."

He also pledged to protect Virginia's defense installations and make voting, obtaining in-state tuition, and other day-to-day challenges easier for active-duty troops.

McDonnell's proposed budget includes $250,000 in preplanning funds for a new veterans' care center in Hampton Roads. The funding will allow the Department of Veterans Services to advance the project more quickly once federal officials pay their share, McDonnell said.

The center, which will provide residential care for elderly and disabled veterans, is badly needed, said Thomas "Chip" Moran, an Air Force veteran who lives in Virginia Beach and serves on the leadership council, a coalition of about 25 groups that advises the governor. He said he hopes to persuade officials to put the center in Virginia Beach, or at least south of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.

Several items on the agenda aim to help veterans and the military statewide.

Legislators are taking a shot at making licensing easier for disabled vets who hunt and fish. Instead of having to meet the requirements for a combined lifetime hunting and fishing license, two new bills would create separate licenses.

Virginia residents who served but don't qualify for a military retiree ID card will be able to prove their veteran status with an ID card that McDonnell hopes to create through the DMV. The card would make it easier for vets to obtain retail discounts, gain admission to state parks, and utilize other perks, McDonnell said.

With a presidential election this year, McDonnell's agenda also includes an effort to ensure that deployed military personnel have the opportunity to vote. Two bills before the General Assembly would create a pilot program for offering secure electronic forms to register with the State Board of Elections; request an absentee ballot; and vote. The bills also would require expedited delivery if officials sent absentee ballots late.

Other initiatives include:

• Nearly $200,000 a year to create a program with local Housing and Community Development departments to assist homeless veterans and their families.

• Funding for additional Department of Veterans Services staff to expedite processing of benefits claims.

•  Legislation requiring state agencies to first consider qualified Virginia National Guard members for job openings.

• A program to identify veterans whose families have not claimed their cremated remains and move them from storage in funeral homes to veterans' cemeteries.

• Expanding DMV offices and mobile units to better serve areas with large numbers of service members.

Jenny Holbert, chairwoman of the council, said she was pleased by the governor's agenda, which includes some items, such as the veteran ID card, that the council had requested.

"Everything that the governor has put out in his agenda is what we should be doing for the veterans because of everything the veterans have done for our freedoms and to give us the good life that we have," Holbert said. "It's the right thing to do."

Kathy Adams, (757) 222-5155, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com