|
|
U.S.
Senator Ken Salazar
Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs
Committees
2300 15th
Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO
80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C.
20510
|
|
SEN. SALAZAR
CONTINUES FIGHT FOR COLORADO VETERANS WITH FOUR BILLS TO IMPROVE VETERANS’
QUALITY OF LIFE
WASHINGTON,
DC – United States Senator Ken Salazar today continued his fight on
behalf of Colorado’s veterans as the Veterans’ Affairs Committee reviewed
three of Sen. Salazar’s four-part Veterans Promise package.
“The VA is under-funded
and facing bigger workloads every year. There are pockets of rural America
where there is not enough access to veterans’ health care. The bills
that I introduced this week will improve care for rural veterans, expand
services for blinded vets and opportunities for disabled veterans and
push the VA on its strategic planning for long term care,” said Senator
Salazar.
Senator Salazar’s Veterans
Promise package is made of four key bills introduced on Tuesday, June
7, 2005. The first three were reviewed by the Veterans Affairs Committee
today, while the fourth goes to the Senate Finance Committee:
- S 1189, which would require
the VA to publish its strategic long-term care plan within six months.
This plan was recommended by the CARES Commission over a year ago
but the VA is still working on the plan. Sen. Salazar’s proposal sets
a deadline and puts in place key requirements, including cost-and-quality
analyses of the entire spectrum of care. Currently, Colorado has 135,000
veterans over the age of 65 but only 100 beds in two VA nursing homes
– a 60-bed facility in Denver and a 40-bed facility in Pueblo, along
with six state-run nursing homes around the state which were facing
drastic funding cuts under the FY06 budget proposal by President Bush;
- S 1190, the Blinded Veterans
Continuum of Care Act, which would increase the number of outpatient
specialists at VA medical centers by expanding the number of Blind
Rehabilitation Outpatient Specialists (BROS) at a cost of $25M over
five years. While the VA introduced BROS in 1996 to offer training
with living skills, mobility and technology, there are only 10 world-class
VA blind rehab centers across the nation, and in many parts of the
country, including Colorado, there are no BROS at all. For these veterans,
treatment can mean the difference between being imprisoned at home
and living independent, rewarding lives. Currently, there 135,000
blind veterans in America (35,000 of whom are already in the VA system),
including 1,400 in Colorado, 700 of whom live in the Denver area;
- S 1191, the VetsRide
Act, which would have the VA partner with VSOs and state veterans
affairs officers to provide critically-needed transportation services
in remote rural areas at a cost of $3M over five years, funded through
a federal grant program. In Colorado, the American Legion has partnered
with the Routt County state veterans service officer to fill this
transportation gap, helping veterans across Northwest Colorado to
drive to and from the Grand Junction VA Medical Center, a round trip
that in some cases can exceed 300 miles; and
- S 1192, the Warm Welcome
Home Act, which would expand the existing $2,400 Work Opportunity
Tax Credit (WOTC) for employers to include all disabled veterans,
not just those who are on food stamps or those who are disabled but
have entered or completed VA Vocational Rehabilitation training. The
VA would be provided with $12.5 million over five years to publicize
and administer this expanded tax incentive.
“These are four bills that
are supported by the VSO community. They will improve the lives of thousands
of veterans, are fiscally responsible and we can afford them now,” Senator
Salazar said.
Senator Salazar is a member
of the Veterans Affairs Committee.
#
# # |