Report
Meeting at Building 9, VAMC Campus
Call to order – 09:30, Invocation – Pledge of Allegiance
Introducing Col. Jim Wall, Chris Belland (MNHS), Phil Stubbs (Dept of Vet Affairs D.C. office)
Announcements – Jerry Kyser, Chair; Mike Rivard, Vice Chair
1. Federal Congressional Representatives and State Senators
Senator Jim Carlson
• Carlson stated the reason he attended the UCLV meeting was because of his concerns about veterans homelessness. One of the difficulties with placing homeless veterans in apartments is they cannot rent with a felony conviction. Veterans Court deals with restorative justice that could keep veterans from being incarcerated. He asked for the support of the Department of Veterans Affairs to promote this bill as a priority in 2020.
Senator Amy Klobuchar- Kurt Johnson
• Not present.
Senator Tina Smith – Alex Schueller
• Not present.
1st District Representative – Jim Hagedorn – Joe Steck
• Not present.
2nd District Representative – Angie Craig – Mike Siebenaler
• Not present.
3rd District Representative – Dean Phillips – Rollie Olson reporting
• Phillips is back in the 3rd District for the August recess. He will be speaking at the MACV Stand Down.
• Phillips has signed onto H.R.3305, the VA Emergency Transportation Act, H.R.387, the Congressional Gold Medal Act, H.R.2433, the Veterans Preference Parity Act, H.R.886, the Veteran Treatment Court Coordination Act, H.R.2869, Heroes Entering Roles of Service Act, H.R.2227, the Gold Star Service Members and Injured Spouses Relief Act, H.R.2819, the Gold Star Families National Monument Extension Act, and H.R.8107, the SFC Sean Cooley Gold Star Fellowship Act.
• Phillips is planning on more visits to veterans centers around the Twin Cities.
• Phillips is serving on the Foreign Affairs and Financial Services committees.
• Rollie Olson is serving as the coordinator for the Service Academy nominations. There will be an info session for parents and students on September 10th.
4th District Representative – Betty McCollum – Connie Haddeland reporting
• Due to personal reasons, Margaret Cavanaugh is unable to attend to the meeting. She sends her regrets.
• The Blue Water Navy Act passed.
• H.R.550, the Merchant Mariners of WWII Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2019 and H.R.553, the Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act made it to the Consensus Calendar on the House floor.
• H.R.712, the VA Medical Cannabis Research Act of 2019, has been in discussions but a vote has not been taken yet.
• H.R.1647, the Veterans Equal Access Act, has been through committee hearings.
• The congresswoman feels strongly about her support for H.R.553, the Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act.
• More information about current bills and voting patterns can be found at (congress.gov).
• McCollum will be doing a session with the service academy nominees in her office on August 8th. Currently there are four enlisted members who will be seeking nominations. These individuals have been identified and recommended by their commanders.
5th District Representative – Ilhan Omar – Akolade Gbadamosi
• Not present.
6th District Representation – Tom Emmer – Alejandra Henriquez
• Not present.
7th District Representative – Collin Peterson – Meg Louwagie
• Not present.
8th District Representative – Pete Stauber – Margaret Cavanaugh
• Not present.
2. Federal Agencies
VISN 23 – Peter McDivitt – Ron Woolery
• Not present.
VBA Regional Office – Kim Graves – Natalie Grimes
• Not present.
Minneapolis VA HCS – Director Patrick J. Kelly – Jemima Faiella reporting
• Introducing Jemima Faiella.
St Cloud VA HCS – Tyler Bieniek reporting
• We are in the process of implementing the Mission Act. Veterans have been able to take advantage of the emergency room and urgent care benefits.
• The St. Cloud campus has become entirely tobacco free. Despite some small growing pains, the move has been well received.
• We are still searching for a new director. Acting Director Martina Malek has been in the position since January. She will stay on until a new candidate is identified.
• The windmill has been removed.
Ft Snelling Cemetery – John Knapp
• Not present.
3. State Agencies and MN Veteran Assistance Organizations
MN Dept. of Veteran Affairs – Larry Herke – Ben Johnson reporting
• We have developed a newsletter to act as a holdover between the annual reports on the department’s actions and legislative action of interest, which are released every January.
• We have been working on developing our capital investment request for next session. Odd numbered years are for budget development and even numbered years are for bonding. There is typically some overlap and there will likely be a supplemental budget next year. MDVA has been focused developing requests to support ongoing facilities improvements.
• Construction has resumed on the bridge across Minnehaha Creek. Work will continue through the end of the summer and the bridge will be opened for traffic in late 2019. It will be closed temporarily in the spring for painting and final walkthroughs.
• We are working on expanding into the final authorized state veterans cemetery in Redwood County. We are working with the National Cemetery Administration to try and secure more funding for the project this year. The official opening ceremony for the Duluth state veterans cemetery will be on September 21st in the afternoon.
• The Homestead Market Value Exclusion Act for Spouses was a big win for spouses. The eligibility is initially tied to the veteran but after the veteran passes away, the benefit will continue with the spouse. Making the benefit eligible for transfer was considered but did not pass. We will support this in the future.
• CVSOs have been inquiring about eligibility for people who had the benefit and lost it after the eight-year sunset. We are working with the Department of Revenue to find an answer.
• As of September 30th, the estimated count of veterans in the state will be 308,000. Currently we are counting 318,000.
• In addition to the funding received from the legislature, there were some additional items that were identified as part of Senate File 10. One concerned Veterans Suicide Awareness Day, on October 10th. This will be the first Veterans Suicide Awareness Day. Hereafter it will be the first Saturday of October. The goal is to highlight this crisis and ensure all avenues of communication are open for helping veterans in crisis. We are interested in gathering insight to make this day as impactful as possible.
Q. H.F.998 is tied to H.R.886, the Veteran Treatment Court Coordination Act. It will likely be voted on in September as the number one legislative priority for the VFW. The bill will save the state of MN $1,307,000 in just two years. It passed the House of Representatives but did not receive a hearing on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Because it passed the House, it went to the Conference Committee at the end of the session. The House side voted for it. The Senate side four nos with only one aye. There were four Republican senators that voted against the legislative priority of everyone from the American Legion to the VFW that would expand Veterans Court care to greater MN and save taxpayer money. One of the votes to not include it came from Senator Bruce Anderson, who was a cosponsor of the bill. When asked, Anderson stated he was outranked. That means he was told by senate leadership to vote against it.
Secondly, some legislators are talking about the legislative accomplishment of a fully funded MN Department of Veteran Affairs. This is not an accomplishment. This is expected. It is the bare minimum to take care of our veterans.
A. Thank you.
Q. Working from a county with a veterans court, it would be helpful to draft language to identify when a veteran has been arrested and contact the veterans court.
A. Intake paperwork is not universal in Minnesota. We have been looking at adding a question to identify veterans on intake paperwork. We also need more statistics on how many veterans are incarcerated or arrested.
Q. Solving this problem isn’t difficult. People just need to act.
A. Thank you.
MN Military Affairs – Jon Jensen – Annette Kuyper Reporting
• We are watching two federal legislative items with interest: H.R.2952, the Montgomery GI Bill Parity Act, which restores the ability for Reserve component members to utilize their federal tuition benefits, and the Mothers of Military Service Leaders Act, which allows Reserve component mothers to be excused from drills and training for twelve weeks after childbirth.
• The 34th ID Red Bulls have returned. Their welcome home ceremony will be held in conjunction with Military Appreciation Day at the State Fair on August 27th.
• Several events and approximately 46 military support booths have been arranged for Military Appreciation Day. Additionally, 225 Yellow Ribbon Company volunteers will be helping throughout the day.
• On August 7th, the Adjutant General conducted the third of three sexual assault prevention Stand Downs. The last was held at the 133rd Airwing in Duluth. One was held in the Twin Cities and the other at Camp Ripley. Feedback from within the force has been positive.
• On August 25th, State Representative Hassan will visit the 133rd Airwing for orientation. Congressman Stauber will be hosted at Camp Ripley for an orientation as well.
• On September 7th, we will be partnering with Best Buy, one of the Yellow Ribbon Companies, for our 5th Annual MN National Guard Women’s Leadership Conference.
• The Camp Ripley open house will be held on September 15th, where the Armed Forces painting by Charles Kapsner will be unveiled.
• The state Yellow Ribbon Action Plan Review Board just approved our 68th Yellow Ribbon Company, Boston Scientific, and we will be proclaiming them in November.
• On September 5th, we will be hosting all of our Yellow Ribbon Companies at a Yellow Ribbon Company seminar to share best practices, build relationships, and to update them on military support efforts. We will be partnering with Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve to do the largest Boss Lift that has ever been held in the state to hear from MN Power, who will be hosting the event at the 148th Fighter wing. We will also be hosting potential Yellow Ribbon Companies at the seminar.
MN Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) – Jon Lovald reporting
• Credit to the governor and the MN Department of Veteran Affairs for the event hosted at the Uptown VFW concerning landlord engagement. Both a mitigation and an incentive fund were created, run through Housing Link. The landlords have been advised to advertise their available units and select which barriers they are willing to accept. This is being handled on a case-by-case basis with the Minnesota Multi Housing Association.
• Housing Link’s inventive fund provides a $1,000 incentive up front to landlords to take high barrier veterans, including those with felonies or addiction issues. The mitigation fund covers limited damages.
• Currently there are 213 veterans on the MN homeless registry. Of that number, more than half are in the metro area, with the highest density in Hennepin County. 89 of those veterans currently have a voucher to
pay for their housing, but no available housing.
• The Metro Stand down will be held on August 16th at Target Field. It will be held outside, but underneath the pavilion. There are currently 67 vendors signed up, but there is still room for more. The event will run from 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM. Congressman Dean Phillips will be speaking at 10:30 AM. Guitars for Vets will also be performing.
• There will be additional Stand Downs in International Falls on August 22nd, Duluth on August 23rd, and the next two legal clinics in the Metro area will be held on September 5th in Anoka and on September
10th in Minneapolis.
Q. The Star Tribune wrote an article stating that landlords were the key to ending veteran homelessness. MHA was concerned about the fallout of this. There are also concerns about current legislation in Minneapolis that would force landlords to do this, rather than work in collaboration. Having a phone number to call in a crisis will also be important in the future.
A. Thank you.
Military Action Group (MAG) – Jerry Kyser reporting
• The next MAG meeting will be held on August 12th at 10:00 AM on the 4th floor.
• Jerry Kyser will be attending the CVSO event on September 9th.
• All the different veterans organizations will have their leadership present for the Commander’s Taskforce on September 26th.
• September 27th is the POW/MIA day at the University of Minnesota.
• There have been several instances of people setting up tables at Wal-Mart, claiming to be from an Arizona veterans group aiming to help veteran homelessness. We need to be vigilant about this.
MNDot – George Costilla reporting
• We are cosponsoring an event targeted for women veterans who either have an existing business or plan to start one on August 17th. The conference is free to attend. The conference is put on by SCORE and sponsored by MNDot. Currently there are 160 veteran small business owners in the state. We need to help veteran owned business become certified.
Q. Where are you getting your data?
A. From the state’s TDB database, which collects data on minority businesses. However, it only collects data on veteran business owners who are registered with the state.
Q. Are you aware of the organization Trust Vets? Joe Johnson would be a good contact person and will be interested in helping.
A. Thank you.
Disabled American Veterans –Trent Dilks
• Not present.
MN CVSO – Greg Peterson reporting
• With Ben Johnson’s assistance, a team of CVSOs has been assembled to liaise with the governor’s office seeking to develop a relationship with Mayo hospitals and systems and encourage them to accept the Mission Act.
• On July 31st, we went up to Moorhead with Senator Klobuchar’s office, Greg Swanholm, Ben Johnson, and others to visit the White Earth Nation’s CVSO.
• Six CVSOs were in attendance at Ft. Hood to welcome the Red Bulls back.
• There will be a Red Bull golf tournament on September 6th sponsored by the DAV in Farmington.
• We will have a booth at the state fair.
• Most counties are in favor of combining CVSO offices with Health and Human Services. For many reasons, we are vehemently opposed to this.
• We are considering establishing an executive director for the MN CVSO association.
Vets for Peace – Jeff Roy reporting
• One of our main efforts is to raise awareness among veterans and the public in terms of the potential privatization of the VA.
• The 2018 Mission Act built on the 2014 Choice Act in terms of trying to move healthcare services for veterans into areas where VA facilities did not exist. We are in favor of this, but the fact that it is moving veterans into the private sector – known as the Veterans Community Care Program under the Mission Act – is worrying. By doing that and not requiring that the quality of care meet the same standards as the VA hospitals and there be an equal amount of competency with veterans issues, we are doing veterans a disservice. Before the Mission Act, 8% of veterans were getting care in the private sector. The number is now 40%. Another issue is the moving of veterans into private sector care is the private sector does not have the same credentialing process or awareness of veteran specific issues.
• Senator Jon Tester from Montana has a bill, senate bill 154, the VA Clear Act of 2019, that would fix many of these issues. Currently there is no companion bill in the House. We encourage people to contact their senators and representatives on this issue.
• The Veteran Community Care Program under the Mission Act is not funded at all. All of the funds for private sector community care come from the VA budget, which is woefully underfunded.
MN Humanities Center – Blake Rondeau
• Not present.
Paralyzed Veterans of America – Todd Kemery
• Not present.
Project Got Your Back / MNME – Allison Alstrin
• Nothing to report.
MN Military Museum – Randal Dietrich
• Report pending