(Center Square) – Eastern Washington Rep. Kathy McMorris Rogers, R-Spokane and others are trying again with a bipartisan bill to allocate federal funds to county Veterans Services Officers to navigate VA services in local communities. It gives you more flexibility when doing level.
“We have a responsibility to ensure that veterans and their families have easy access to the benefits and services they have earned,” said Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA), a co-sponsor of the bill. He said: statement“That’s why my colleagues and I are reintroducing this bipartisan, bicameral law to support the work of County Veterans Services Officers who interact directly with local veterans on a daily basis.”
The bill’s title, Addressing the Veterans Assistance and Outreach Act, or CVSO Act, is named after the county’s Veterans Services Officer and seeks to staff and provide more resources.
In a statement, McMorris-Rogers said, “Veterans are often the only lifeline between veterans and their families’ benefits from serving the country.” That’s true in rural areas where veterans slip through the cracks.”
Minnesota Republican Rep. Brad Finstad also backed the bill.
“This law establishes a grant program that the CVSO can use to improve support for veterans and to train and hire additional officers,” he said.
The text of the bill states that in areas with “severe shortages of county or tribal Veterans Services officers, areas with high veteran suicide rates,” or areas with high numbers of “Veteran Crisis Line referrals.” grants are given particular priority. ”
It also includes results-based evaluations to determine the effectiveness of allocated grants.
The CVSO Act is endorsed by the National Association of Veterans Services Officers, the Warriors Partnership of America, the Green Berets Foundation, and the Wounded Warriors Project.it received more than passed vote It won 401-18 in the House of Representatives in the 117th Congress, but failed to reach a vote in the Senate.
a Overview material Wisconsin Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin said she supported the bill “to expand and support CVSOs or similar local organizations that currently help veterans earn more than $50 billion a year. , approve $50 million annually over five years.”
