Report
Meeting at Building 9, VAMC Campus
Call to order – 9:30, Invocation – Pledge of Allegiance
Greetings: Recognition of visitors and guests
Announcements -Jerry Kyser, Chair, Mike Rivard, Vice Chair.
1. Federal Congressional Representatives
Senator Amy Klobuchar – Kurt Johnson
*Not present.
Senator Tina Smith – Alex Schueller
*Not present.
1st District Representative – Tim Walz – Shawn Schoesser Reporting
*Walz introduced the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act, which would authorize the VA to perform research on the benefits and disadvantages of medical cannabis. Without this research, we cannot move forward on alternatives to pain and chronic pain management for service members.
*Service members in the Guard or the Reserve and who have chosen to purchase TriCare Reserve Select, if they then become a federal employee, they lose the option of having TriCare Reserve Select and switch to the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program, which is significantly more expensive. We would like Reserve and Guard members to consider federal employment and want to ensure this is not a disincentive for them to do that, financially.
*Concerning the Reserve Components Benefits Parity Act, we were able to address most but not all of the problems. Walz and Palazzo put together a bill to take care of those last few issues.
*Walz and the House Veteran Affairs Committee have committed to working towards our next Care in the Community Program. We are still working on both the foundation and structure, but also how to pay for it. It is still moving forward. More information will be forthcoming.
Q. I understand the difference in cost between federal and TriCare insurance programs, what is the difference in care?
A. I don’t know the difference in care.
Q. There are also many different federal policies that a person can choose from, which may feed into the decision.
A. We will look into that.
Q. Concerning the Choice program, are you looking into expanding beyond the thirty day and thirty mile requirements now?
A. The vision is not to privatize the VA but to allow conversations between your primary care provider and you. We also want the VA to have the option to pull all their care in the community together, so providers know what they’re receiving, and that it’s equitable across every program.
2nd District Representative – Jason Lewis – Angela Sedlacek
*Not present.
3rd District Representative – Erik Paulsen – Maragret Cavanaugh
*Not present.
4th District Representative – Betty McCollum – Connie Haddeland Reporting
*There will be a recognition meeting for the seven students who will be entering the Service Academies.
*The Armed Services Committee has finished reviewing their budget for fiscal year 2019. The regular appropriations process will continue.
*There is a new proposed Army Futures Command that was created under an order of the secretary to create an innovate center that would bring together different sections of the army in a different location to hold discussions about innovation and cyber security. The army put out letters to various areas of the country that fit demographics and other categories found by a consultant. Many different states are putting together packages to address the questions that are being asked, and are looking to involve Minnesota in the Army Futures Command. They are looking to bring an Army command of approximately 500 people to a location that is not in Washington DC. They are looking for collaboration between high tech, academia, science, and innovation. The metropolitan area is one on the list. Everything is at the preliminary stage.
5th District Representative – Keith Ellison – Mike Siebenaler
*Not present.
6th District Representative – Tom Emmer – Alejandra Henriquez
*Not present.
7th District Representative – Collin Peterson – Meg Louwagie
*Not present.
8th District Representative – Rick Nolan – Rick Olseen Reporting
*We are looking closely at the National Defense Authorization Act.
*Concerning the volunteer driver issue, Nolan introduced HR 5662. This would set the volunteer rate to be the same as the federal reimbursement rate so the drivers would not be taxed on the difference. We are working with Klobuchar’s office to carry it in the senate.
Q. Where do you stand on the reimbursement issue?
A. Congressman Collin Peterson is on board and we have reached out to a national organization of nonprofits. This doesn’t just impact Minnesota.
2. Federal Agencies
VISN 23 – Director Janet Murphy – Andre Kok Reporting
*May is Mental Health month. VISN 23 has compiled a list of resources for veterans, among them Make the Connection (https://maketheconnection.net) and MyHealthEVet (https://www.myhealth.va.gov/mhv-portal-web/home).
*Janet Murphy will be retiring from service to the VA at the end of May. An acting network director will be named at that point. She has been serving with us for 17 years.
VA Regional Office – Kim Graves Reporting
*The Veterans Benefits Administration confirmed the president’s nominee for undersecretary in the senate. Mr. Paul Lawrence will be joining us soon. We have not yet heard about the official swearing in, but expect that will be happening soon.
(Text provided by VA Benefits office:)
Planning Your Legacy Pamphlet: This workbook was developed in partnership by the Regional Office’s Innovation Board and Fort Snelling National Cemetery’s employee innovation group. Development of the workbook was guided by feedback from local VSO and CVSOs and Minnesota Veterans. The publication will be available shortly for national distribution. The St. Paul RO has ordered a large quantity to support distribution to CVSOs, VA medical facilities, Vet Centers and other locations where Veterans can obtain them.
Decision Ready Claims (DRC): The Decision Ready Claims program allows Veterans and their representatives to proactively gather and submit the evidence necessary to support claims for increase and other specific claim types, allowing for expedited decision making. Nationally, 952 DRC claims have been completed since the program was piloted here in Minnesota. These claims were completed in an average of 10.7 days from submission. Locally, 135 DRC claims have been completed in an average of 8.9 days from submission.
Rapid Appeals Modernization Plan (RAMP): The purpose of the RAMP initiative is to allow Veterans who have a claims appeal pending with VA to “opt in” to the new appellate process, which otherwise does not go into effect in February 2019. So far, across the nation, there have been 15,453 appellants who have opted-in; those Veterans had been waiting in the appeal process for an average of 902.4 days from the submission of their Notice of Disagreement (NOD). Of those, 1,084 have been completed in an average of 54.7 days from opt in. The current grant rate is 44.3%. If the Veteran isn’t satisfied with the decision received under RAMP, he or she may still have their case considered by the Board of Veterans Appeals. BVA consideration will occur after October 2018, and those who have been through RAMP and not satisfied will have their cases placed on a new docket. BVA will work cases both from the new docket and the existing docket. Veterans interested in RAMP should consult with their representative to determine if this is a good option for their particular situation. If the Veteran does not have a representative, VA can also assist in reviewing the Veteran’s circumstances.
For more information about RAMP and how to opt-in, please visit
https://www.benefits.va.gov/benefits/appeals.asp
*Another thing the VA Regional Benefits office has been working on is ensuring that veterans entitled to 100% compensation due to hospitalization for a service-connected condition also receive a period of convalescence after surgery. This benefit has been available but historically, there has been some unevenness with how it is administered from a timeliness perspective. We piloted a new process and it has been accepted for national implementation.
VAHCS Minneapolis – Director Patrick J. Kelly – Ralph Heussner
*Not present.
St. Cloud VA HCS – Director Stephen D. Black – Barry Venerable Reporting
*The remodeled portion of our canteen store opened in early April. The entire canteen operation is in the midst of being remodeled.
*Along with the regional office, we were in Brainerd on May 1 for a town hall. We recognized 45 Vietnam veterans for their service and conducted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the construction that expanded their clinic. Full service audiology and full service optometry will be moving into that space.
*We held a career fair on April 28th and had 202 individuals participate. We are planning on hiring a number of nurses, medical clerks, and social workers as a result.
*We are hosting a veterans job fair on May 4th, in partnership with 18 local businesses in the greater St. Cloud Development Corporation.
*We are hosting a baby shower on May 9th at the VA in an effort to reach out to our women veterans and veterans who are planning to have a child in 2018. This is part of a national initiative.
*Our Vietnam Veteran Recognition Ceremonies continue. This is a DOD-led effort.
*The St. Cloud Metro Vets will be hosting a Memorial Day event on May 28th at the VA. It starts at 11 AM and is preceded by a parade.
Ft. Snelling Cemetery – Bob Razor Reporting
*We are getting ready to put on a benefits online conference that we will be leading. We appreciate the help of the VA regional office in this.
*We are preparing for Memorial Day. Unfortunately, the weather has put us about a month behind. The biggest priority for us is to get in there and fix the winter graves.
*Major General Loidolt will be speaking at the Memorial Day event.
*We are partnering with Flags For Ft. Snelling again this year. Their goal is to put flags on every marker in the cemetery.
*We are still in the testing phases for one weekend a month burial services.
*The Memorial Rifle Squad is getting ready to hit their 75th Service rendered. They’re expected to do this around Memorial Day.
Q. How many total employees do you have?
A. We have a total of 50 FTE.
3. State Agencies and MN Veteran Assistance Organizations
MN Department of Veteran Affairs – Ben Johnson Reporting
*The governor has not signed any veteran-specific bills this legislative season. There are less than three weeks to go until the end of session. They are working through their priorities, which at this point appear to be the federal tax conformity bills. The House version did include some changes to the Homestead Property Value Exclusion Act, the House version does not eliminate the 8 year sunset for surviving spouses but does includes language that the Commander’s Task Force worked on to make it easier for veterans, their spouses, and the county. Thus far we have not seen any changes to the jobs or tax credits.
*There are two MDVA initiatives standing by for the final vote. One is a correction to the MN GI Bill changes that were implemented last year and the other is the prohibition on assigning benefits, adding penalties to those who take advantage of veterans. This would add state penalties to something that is already illegal on the federal level.
*We have not seen a Capital Investment Bonding Bill from the legislature yet. The governor released his jobs bill in January and the legislature has been hearing proposals from communities and state agencies on informational terms, but have not yet released their list of objectives.
*On April 27th, we held a joint press conference and tour at the Hastings Veterans Home. The presentation was done jointly with the Department of Administration, Commissioner Massman, and Commissioner Shellito. They spoke on our request for asset preservation. The request as $13.1 million to fund existing facilities repairs.
*We are shifting priorities slightly from funding new homes to funding existing facilities.
*The proposed funding included in the People’s Veterans Homes Act is not sufficient to fund to get on the application list on the federal level for matching money.
*Between tax conformity, a potential Capital Investment Bill, and the supplemental budget bills, there is a lot of diversity of thought on whether anything is going to get done.
Q. They want to keep the modification for the property tax bill at eight years?
A. Yes. They took the modification in when you can apply and how much is available, but the elimination of the eight year sunset was not included.
Q. The only way that we can impact this is to talk to our individual representatives before it goes on the floor, correct?
A. Correct. The House version has already passed, so it would be on the Senate side.
Q. Rumor in the veterans community says that there is $120 million remaining in the stadium fund and that there is a push to fund all three new homes with that money. Can you speak on this?
A. The stadium reserve fund was set up as part of the funding mechanism for the new Vikings stadium. Any additional money beyond what the state needs to pay the borrowing that built the stadium is kept in reserve. Projects right now are around $38 to $40 million is there or will be there, and as much as $68 million in a few years. The House version does fund from the reserve and it would take $26 million to fund all three new veterans homes. The challenge is that the estimates from those communities for what the state’s 35% share would be is different from what we believe it would be. However, there is an additional pool of money for the VA to fund construction on a federal level. There are opportunities to address the backlog of applications for projects that have been submitted.
Q. What do we need to do to push for that?
A. The governor’s preference would be that it be bonded at the full estimated cost, rather than taking from general fund money that would then impact schools and other uses, in addition to utilizing the stadium reserve fund that was put in place to ensure that things were taken care of. The governor is not in favor of the idea, though he is in favor of new veterans homes. The governor is focusing on existing state needs at this time. Talk to your local legislators. A more likely way to get it down would be through bonding.
MN Military Affairs – Major General Jon Jensen – Lt. Col. Brian Winter Reporting
*During the last week of April, a group from the MN National Guard, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, and other public service agencies made a trip out to Washington DC. The purpose was to visit the National Holocaust Memorial and conduct office calls with Senator Klobuchar and Senator Smith. Topics of discussion included the partnership between the JCRC and the MN National Guard’s Diversity Inclusion Office.
*Additionally, we informed both of the offices about an issue that has come to our attention over the last six to twelve months in respect to extraordinarily long waits for Army National Guard officers to get promoted. The issue seems to stem from the Army side but is starting to get traction nationally. We have heard there is legislation to address this in the works with Senator Warren and Senator Cruz.
*Last week we had a successful Yellow Ribbon Company seminar hosted by General Mills. The intent was to gather and share best practices for transitioning service members from a military environment to a civilian workplace. Governor Dayton was in attendance. Our next event will be in September at 3M headquarters.
*We have gotten approval to hire three additional Yellow Ribbon outreach coordinators. These will be state employee positions. They will be located in Mankato, Cottage Grove, and Ripley. The coordinators will be tasked with strengthening our community networks in each of those three assigned regions. The jobs have not been posted yet, but hope to see them open up in the next few weeks.
*The Chisago Lakes Yellow Ribbon Community kickoff was originally scheduled for April 14th, but was canceled due to the weather. It has been rescheduled for June 2nd at 2:00 PM at Lakes Free Church in Lindstrom.
*Our agency has approved three new Yellow Ribbon Companies: Land O’Lakes, USAA, and Capital One. Their proclamation ceremonies will be forthcoming.
MN Assistance Council For Veterans (MACV) – Trista Matascastillo Reporting
*MACV has a specific focus this year on ending homelessness for women veterans. As of today, we have 20 women veterans on the homeless registry. We are down from 22 in March.
*There was a groundbreaking ceremony on April 27th for a new home in Maplewood, which will be dedicated for women veterans and their families.
*We are moving forward with hiring new intake coordinators. They should come on board by June 1st.
*There will be a gala on September 6th at CHS Field. The gala will be a fundraiser for women veterans facing homelessness.
*Our metro Stand Down dates are August 14th at Target Field.
*The Mission Continues is doing a service project for our other houses on 909 St. Anthony.
*There is an open house for our new SIL home in Hibbing that will take place on May 23rd.
*Legal clinic dates:
May 8th in Minneapolis
May 22nd in Worthington Marshal
May 23rd in Mankato
*There will be a Stand Down in Rochester on June 23rd. More details will be forthcoming.
Military Action Group (MAG) – Jerry Kyser Reporting
*Please talk to your legislators about increasing support for veteran specific bills, specifically the conference committee. We have approximately 20 days to do that.
*The next MAG meeting May 14th at 9 AM in the state office building at 400 N.
*We had a discussion with Veteran Voices and June 1 is the deadline for nominations.
Q. There’s an official for MOA coming in, are you familiar with this?
A. No, I’m not.
Paralyzed Veterans of America – Todd Kemery Reporting
*The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, HR 4, was passed. We want to thank our representatives who supported this. This is all part of the Air Carrier Access Act revamping. PVA has been one of the advocates for change. Passengers with disabilities bill of rights have the requirement that the Department of Transportation must investigate the feasibility of cabin wheelchair restraint systems.
*On the senate side, Senator Baldwin has put forth Senate Bill 1318, which similar language to HR 4. We are hoping they will get this signed into law before September.
*We have partnered with the MN Council of Disability on accessible state parks, HR 39 and Senate File 2963. We are in the midst of an email and a phone call blitz. This is for $29 million to go toward paying for accessibility in William O’brien State Park, Ft. Snelling State Park, and Big Woods State Park, and Minneopa State Park. Of the approximately 100+ DNR parks in Minnesota, around 75% of them are not disability accessible. This is a start.
*We would have liked to have had the governor sign off on a 4% increase in the payment for Personal Care Assistants, but that did not happen. This will be one of our priorities moving forward.
*We attended the meeting on the House side on April 27th when they were deciding on some veteran issues. We waited for at least five hours and when it came time for public testimony, the committee chair refused to allow us to comment. Most of us were there to discuss the Homestead Widows issue.
St. Paul Vets Center – Scott Braden Reporting
*We have a new director on board, Dr. Lisa Wallace.
*We are moving forward with a lot of our programs and now have a full staff of clinicians.
*We are going to be attending a lot of different veteran events moving forward.
*We want to correct miscommunications about what vet centers can do. Please spread the word that we are available for every veteran, active duty service members, and Guard and Reserve.
*We are starting spousal support groups and golf for veterans.
MN CVSO – Robby Robinson Reporting
*Concerning property tax exclusion, this is the first year that CVSOs can certify that everyone is 70 to 100% service connected disabled and ensure that they are living at the proper address.
*The Military Order of the Purple Heart will be closing on 6/30/18. Contact any veterans who are involved so we can get them a new power of attorney. It closed due to funding issues at the federal issue.
Twin Cities Public Television – Randall Dietrich Reporting
*The documentary Going to War will premiere on May 28th. It illuminates the training, battle, and coming home of soldiers across multiple conflicts. There will be a special advanced screening in Washington DC at the Library of Congress on May 17th.
*There will be advanced screenings at TPT Studios on May 22nd at 6:30 PM. A second screening is scheduled at Camp Ripley on May 24th.
*There will be another program on May 28th called Perspectives and Profiles: Twelve MN Vietnam Veterans. All of this is leading up to the big weekend at the state capital, where we will have the Wall That Heals. It is a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. There will be programing in Cedar Street Armory, including documentaries, discussions with Vietnam veterans, and an exhibit donated by the military museum.
*Please spread the word, we need volunteers for the Wall that Heals June 21st through 24th.
*We are hosting our final Minnesota Remembers Vietnam public program at the Ordway theater, called Epilog at 7:00 PM on June 3rd. Tickets are on sale now.
Historic Fort Snelling – Tom Pfannenstiel Reporting
*We are hosting an Indie Lens Popup on May 15th, presented by Twin Cities Public Broadcasting and the MN Historical Society. It will be a documentary entitled Served Like A Girl, which will look at homeless women veterans who entered into the Ms. Veteran America Competition. There will be a panel discussion afterwards.
National Guard Association of Minnesota – Col. James Douglas Reporting
*Our annual conference for the state of Minnesota was held this past weekend. Retirement for National Guard Service Members is a concern. The retirement age is 60. In 2008, due to the up-tempo of deployments, legislation was passed that reduced the retirement age of Guardsmen due to the number of times they have been deployed. We are looking to get this back-dated to 2001.
*TriCare Reserve Select is still an issue.
*Concerning Reservist travel, the up-tempo of the Reserve is getting increasingly high. Drill weekends are getting longer and Guardsmen who live more than 100 miles away from their drill location can get a tax deduction for their hotel and meals. We want to shorten that to 50 miles with HR 1697.
*We have been pushing the state-sponsored life insurance legislation and it looks good so far.
*The Guard Association of Minnesota is having their annual golf tournament on June 1st. It will be held on the Emerald Greens Golf Course in Hastings. Registration is open through May 15th.
Project Got Your Back – Allison Alstrin Reporting
*There has been a group that has been working to create an organization that provides caregivers and service providers an opportunity to talk about legislative issues, much like the UVLC. The next meeting is May 16th from 12:00 to 2:00 PM at the VFW in Uptown.
*We are working toward a calendar system where people can make announcements that they want other service providers to know about.
End of Report
Summer meetings:
June 6, 2018 (MSP VAMC Building 9)
July 11, 2018 at St. Cloud
August , 2018 (MSP VAMC Building 9)
Treasurer’s Report as of 1 May 2018