Press Releases...

For Immediate Release:                                                                                   

April 12, 2006

Watson Joins Veteran’s Taskforce

House Republicans to analyze States veteran’s problems

Springfield, IL…. To foster a better understanding of the problems facing Illinois’ military veterans, State Representative Jim Watson (R-Jacksonville) joined a group of Illinois House Republicans this week to announce the formation of their Veteran’s Taskforce to analyze existing services and benefits provided to Illinois veterans and make recommendations on how to improve accessibility and availability of those benefits and services.

“The problems facing our state’s former military personnel are many and vast in scope” said Watson.  “This especially hits home for me after having served in Operation Desert Storm. We are seeing a great many problems that we hope to address and get some answers to such as getting a job after returning home, going back to school, VA health care, disability payments, homeless veterans.  ”

The House Republican Veteran’s Taskforce will hold hearings and visit veteran’s facilities around the state to:

• Improve accessibility and procurement of health and social service benefits.
• Increase the availability and funding of State and federal educational opportunities.
• Enhance expediency and assistance in obtaining permanent and temporary housing.
• Better intergovernmental cooperation.
• Further the availability and coordination of employment opportunities.

“The facts and figures are embarrassing and unacceptable.  The Illinois Department of Employment Security reports that only 34% of veterans seeking employment assistance found jobs” Watson said.  “The Department of Veteran Affairs ranks Illinois last when it comes to disability payments for veterans while the U.S Labor Department ranks Illinois as the worst state in the nation in helping their veteran’s find a job.  It’s one thing to advocate for veterans programs and say we’re going to do all we can to get them hired, but the devil is in the details and it’s just not happening.”

A number of younger veterans choose to go to college when returning home.  Last year over 11,000 veterans took advantage of the Illinois Veterans Grant Program that provides free tuition to Illinois veterans.  Unfortunately the program is facing a $13.6 million shortfall.

Representative Watson introduced House Resolution 1121 which states that public universities and community colleges are entitled to reimbursement for the cost they incurred in the administration of the Veteran Grant Program, the Illinois National Guard Grant Program, and the MIA-POW Scholarship Program. “It’s a matter of priorities. The state has made a commitment to properly fund the veteran’s tuition program and we need to ensure the funds are there” said Watson.   “State funding for the program has remained flat over the last four years while tuition costs and the number of veterans taking advantage of the program have both risen.

Watson said under-funding the program not only hurts the veterans going back to school but other students as well. “If you create or propose new programs for veterans at the expense of existing programs, I think that is being less than sincere” said Watson.  “We have heard time and time again that this is about choices and I agree.  Veteran’s care is a wonderful thing if we are not short-changing other programs that will have a trickle-down affect impacting everybody.  If you short-change these colleges and universities by millions of dollars, tuition is going to go up for everybody.  It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Another mounting problem is the understaffing at the state’s veterans homes.  A recent AFSCME report points out barriers faced by aged and disabled veterans seeking care in the state’s four veterans homes and the harm that funding cuts have caused to the quality of care provided.   Nearly 1,000 veterans are on the homes’ waiting lists even though the facilities have more than 260 empty beds that cannot be filled due to lack of staff.

In the report direct-care workers in the veteran’s homes describe conditions in which many veterans are given just one bath a week, are served their meals cold, do not receive required physical therapy, are not promptly treated for bedsores, and receive medication from nurses unfamiliar with their medical needs.

“Veterans in need of care should not be forced to wait for months or even years to gain admittance when there are empty beds available.  Instead of confronting the problem and hiring the needed staff, the Department of Veterans Affairs relies on making their employees work overtime, again causing a drop in the quality of care.

The House Republican Veteran’s Taskforce will be holding hearings as early as June. “The bottom line is, we can’t continue to say ‘we care’ if we don’t fund the programs that support these men and women when they come home” Watson said.  “This taskforce is going to raise some noise and try to make sure our veterans are being taken care of.”