Report
Meeting at Building 9, VAMC Campus
Call to order – 09:30, Invocation – Pledge of Allegiance
- Greetings: Recognition of visitors and guests
- Announcements – Jerry Kyser, Chair; Mike Rivard, Vice Chair
- Introducing Ron Sackett, director of the St. Paul regional VA office, Martin Hollis, Vice President of the MN Association for CVSOs, Nancy Cass, site manager for Historic Fort Snelling, and Paula Canter, board member of MACV.
1. Federal Congressional Representatives and Senators
Senator Amy Klobuchar – Kurt Johnson reporting
• The National Defense Authorization Act has gone through the House and Senate at least once.
• The Burn Pits Accountability Act, or S191, was pushed through the House and Senate. This adds onto the burn pit legislation that Klobuchar has been supporting and ensures that when a service member goes in for their annual medical evaluation, a question is asked whether the service member has been exposed to burn pits. This will help gather data, establish the extent of burn pit damage, and get care to impacted service members.
• The Supporting Children of the National Guard and Reserve Act, S784, which automatically notifies teachers when the child of an active duty member of the Guard or Reserve is deployed, has been passed.
• The Military Tracking Ballot amendment has also been passed. This helps spouses vote easier when they are out of state.
Q. Senate Bill 2679 is the Veteran Small Business Enhancement Act, which was passed in January. Has there been any progress made on implementation?
A. I will have to get back to you on that one.
Q. Senate Bill 154 has been before the senate for months now. It would take some of the flaws out of the Mission Act of 2018. What is Klobuchar’s position on it?
A. I will look into this.
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
• Philips spoke at the MACV Stand Down at Target Field.
• The Service Academy Information night will be held on September 10th at the Providence Academy Performing Arts Center.
4th District Representative – Betty McCollum – Connie Haddeland reporting
• Connie Haddeland hosted a number of individuals in McCollum’s office to discuss the Service Academy nomination process.
• Haddeland also visited the Arden Hills Army Training Center to review the progress being made on the division headquarters. Additionally, the environmental stewardship displayed by the Army National Guard was especially impressive.
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 reporting
• The 7th and 8th districts will be doing a combined Academy Night information session on September 17th. The 7th District will have their own Academy Night information session September 16th, and another in St. Cloud with the 6th District on September 30th. The 7th District will also have an Academy Night information session on October 21st in Windom.
• Stauber is co-sponsoring the Veterans Access to Childcare Act, which passed, the Blue Water Vietnam Veterans Act, which passed, the Homeless Veterans Act, the Burn Pits Accountability Act, and the Military Surviving Spouse Equity Act.
• Since the House has been in recess, Stauber visited the 148th and Camp Ripley.
2. Federal Agencies
VISN 23 – Ron Woolery reporting
• Dr. Jennifer McDonald, a staffer at the VA central office, attended the Military Appreciation Day booth at the state fair. She then spoke on Minnesota Military Radio, along with Commissioner Herke.
• Starting on September 5th, Ron Woolery will be in Iowa for the National Disabled Veterans TEE Tournament. This will be the 26th year the tournament has been hosted.
• September is National Suicide Prevention Month. The VA is using #BeThere to raise awareness.
• September 9th through the 13th is Special Focus Suicide Prevention Week. Watch our social media feeds for additional information. The goal this year is to get the word out.
• Since the rollout of the Mission Act, use of Care in the Community has increased both in Minneapolis and St. Cloud markets. Though we are currently working under the TriWest provider, we will be transitioning to Optum in early 2020. Optum has a better network and TriWest was always intended to be a bridge to a stronger provider.
• One of the big changes with the Mission Act is the availability of urgent care in a veteran’s community. If you or a veteran you know is looking to find a local provider, go to (www.va.gov/findlocation). This will show veterans what options are available in their neighborhoods. It also provides letters for veterans discussing the urgent care benefit, what information providers need for appointments, and how to get pharmacy benefits in a given location.
• Within the Midwest Heathcare Network, we currently have three facilities that are under acting directors; Sioux Falls, Fargo, and St. Cloud. The process is getting close to finalization and we hope to announce the three new directors soon. We are also getting close to bringing on a VISN level mental health director who will oversee mental health care throughout the entire network.
VBA Regional Office – Kim Graves – Ron Sackett reporting
• We were in attendance at the state fair for Military Appreciation Day and the recent Stand Down at Target Field.
• We will be providing training at the CVSO conference at Grand Lodge during the week of September 9th.
• We will be co-hosting a town hall along with the hospital and cemetery in Superior, Wisconsin on September 19th in the evening.
• Events for Veterans Day are in the planning stage. More information will be provided closer to the date.
Q. Where will the Blue Water claims be adjudicated?
A. Right now the Veterans Benefits Administration is hiring additional staff to deal with the claims but have not announced a particular location yet. We have requested more guidance from the central office but so far have not received concrete feedback. So far, our recommendation is to file again if a veteran has been turned down previously so the case can be reopened.
Mpls VA HCS – Director Patrick J. Kelly
• Not present.
St. Cloud VA HCS – Tyler Bieniek – Barry Venable reporting
• The VA urgent care line is (833) 483-8669.
• Please check the urgent care provider list before going in. Providers enter and exit the system on a regular basis.
• There are no limits to the number of times in any given year that a veteran can access the urgent care benefit, though there may be copays depending on the veterans individual situation. It should not be used as a substitute for preventative care.
• With regard to Blue Water claims, it is important to remind everyone that a claim for disability compensation is not an application for healthcare. A compensation exam is also not the same as being seen by a VA doctor. If a Blue Water veteran is having health problems, they should file an application for healthcare benefits.
• The wind turbine has been removed.
• We are operating with an acting director, Martina Malek, who is the Veterans Experience Chief at the Minneapolis VA. She has been filling in since May.
• Flu shots will begin to be provided in October. Veterans can go to the VA and Walgreens. A flu shot with an in-network provider is copay free.
Q. What is the goal of the new urgent care program?
A. The purpose of the VA and the Mission Act is to provide healthcare to veterans at levels of quality and access that our congressional leaders desire. When approaching healthcare, need tends to fall into three categories: routine care, urgent care, and emergency care. Routine care is generally provided at the medical center or community care network. The gateway to using the community care network remains the veteran’s healthcare team. If a veteran needs or wants to be seen in the community and meets the various eligibility guidelines, the process is initiated with a conversation with the VA. The urgent care benefit provides an opportunity for veterans to go to community providers in their hometown. The emergency care authorities were not changed by the Mission Act. The VA can and does provide reimbursement for emergency care in the community under certain conditions. In most cases, the provider will file a claim with the VA. Sometimes the veteran will need to initiate a claim for reimbursement. There are multiple ways the VA can reimburse that care. In general, the VA will pay for emergency care associated with service connected injuries. There are also provisions to pay for nonservice connected care.
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
• There will be ribbon cuttings for the 3rd District’s Veterans Court on September 20th in the Steele County courthouse at 10:30 AM and 1:30 PM in Fillmore County. The MN Supreme Court will be in attendance.
• September 20th is also POW Recognition Day. This will be the first time Minnesota has joined the national celebration.
• There will be an event for POW Recognition Day on September 27th at the University of Minnesota stadium at 3:00 PM.
• September 21st will be the dedication of the Duluth Veterans Cemetery. Randy Reeves, the VA Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs, will be in attendance. Governor Walz is tentatively scheduled to be the keynote speaker. The ribbon cutting was delayed from the original Memorial Day date due to weather.
• October 5th will MN Suicide Prevention Day. It will be a day of recognition, remembrance, and prevention. More details will be forthcoming.
Commented [EJ1]: Insert further details
Q. Does MDVA have anyone in charge of suicide prevention?
A. We do not currently have a dedicated resource for suicide prevention. Governor Walz declared this a high priority item in August. Development on the new position will begin in the next four months. In the past, we have referred veterans to the VA and do not currently have any subject matter experts on staff.
MN Military Affairs – Jon Jensen – Brian Winter – Annette Kuyper reporting
• Meg Louwagie was recognized with the Patrick Henry Award by NGAUS for her efforts in support of military veterans in the seven congressional districts.
• Governor Walz was appointed to the Federal Council of Governors earlier this year. He has agreed for Minnesota to take point on two of the council’s priorities; full time support for the National Guard and duty status reform.
• We are tracking HR 2953, the Aviation Parity Act, which would give members of the Reserve component the same amount of flight incentive way as their active duty counterparts and HR 2952 and SF 93, the Montgomery GI Bill Parity Act, which would rewind a DOD policy change from 2014 that disallowed Reserve component members that are eligible for the Select Reserve Montgomery GI Bill to co-use any federal tuition assistance concurrently.
• Additionally, HR 2937 and S 1615, the Mothers of Military Service Leave Act, would allow reserve component mothers to be excused from drills and training for twelve weeks after childbirth. This would bring the reserve into parity with their active duty counterparts.
• The congressional staff tour at Camp Ripley was well received.
• We supported the state Military Appreciation Day at the state fair and conducted the 34th Infantry Division Red Bull welcome home ceremony at the same event.
• The fall Yellow Ribbon Company Seminar will be held on September 5th at the 138th Fighter Wing in Duluth. Elite, or Minnesota Power, will be hosting.
• Command Sergeant Major Doug Wortham will be retiring on September 6th.
• September 7th will be the fifth annual MN National Guard Women’s Leadership forum. It will be held at the Best Buy headquarters in Richfield.
• September 7th will also be the Command Senior Enlisted Leader change of responsibilities. Command Sergeant Major Bryan Soper will be taking over. He is currently stationed in Hawaii.
• Brigadier General Johanna Clyborne will be promoted to Major General on September 7th.
• On September 14th, the former Wing Commander of the 133rd, Colonel Dan Gabrielli, will be promoted to Brigadier General. He is currently assigned to the joint force headquarters in St. Paul.
• The deployment ceremony for the 34th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade will be held on September 20th at 11:00 AM at Grace Church in Eden Prairie.
• Securion in downtown St. Paul was recently approved to become a Yellow Ribbon Company. Their proclamation will occur in November.
Q. Is it true students are supposed to use all of their federal aid first before asking the state?
A. That is the current policy of the Minnesota National Guard.
Q. I was told last year that state tuition reimbursement funding for graduate school was cut in half due to funding issues. Are there any initiatives to reestablish the 100% funding?
A. I believe so, but will get back to you with details.
MN Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) – Sean Riffe reporting
• The recent Stand Down was a success. Attendance was down slightly from prior dates, but the events were well attended. 110 veterans attended who were already in transitional housing. Over 68 providers were in attendance.
• 11 veterans were added to the homeless registry.
• St. Louis County is down to 12 homeless veterans on the registry. We are currently working with HUD to convert one of our homes for 5, and our Hibbing house for 3. We could potentially house 8 people on a permanent basis. These are all single individuals.
• All funds for the golf tournament earlier this year went back to helping women veterans struggling with homelessness. The organizers raised $43,000.
• We are moving to 1000 University to a more centralized location near the light rail and with parking by the door. The move will start on September 26th. Open houses will follow.
Q. If veterans housed in transitional housing are still counted as homeless, what is it about those transitional units that keeps them being referred to as homeless?
A. You’re referring to the functional zero. If a veteran is in transitional housing, that means they are working on 1 to 5 issue, such as cleaning up their records or waiting for a voucher. This often takes a long time. This counts toward the functional zero and means the veteran is moving in the right direction. When it comes down to definitions, “permanent” and “transitional” are two different things. The distinction also helps with funding needs.
Q. The governor is talking about finding more rentals and pushing for groups to consider renting to veterans. Would these fall under the permanent housing, with a long term lease and such?
A. Correct. The cost for transitional housing is funded through MACV, grants, or private funding. The governor is asking for landlords to provide housing for individuals with reduced income or other barriers who are given vouchers.
Military Action Group (MAG) – Jerry Kyser and Bob Dettmer reporting
• If you plan on attending the POW Recognition Day at the University of Minnesota, please save your parking vouchers and present them to Jerry Kyser afterward for reimbursement. We encourage everyone to attend.
• The next Honor Flight will be on November 2nd. There will be 20 WWII veterans, 2 of whom are over 100 years old. The rest are Korea veterans and two terminally ill Vietnam era veterans. Vietnam era veterans are eligible for the Honor Flights if they have a doctor’s note stating they have less than six months to live.
• The last MAG meeting was held on August 12th. The main topic of discussion was the ongoing issues with the Mayo clinic and the Mission Act. Please encourage your congressional representatives to look into the issue. During the meeting, it was revealed that various care providers can opt into the Mission Act, but it is not mandatory for private providers to participate. Mayo did say they looking into the issue, but had ongoing concerns about the Mission Act.
• The next MAG meeting will be held on September 23rd at 10:00 AM at the state office building.
• The Mayo clinic also has an internal veteran clinic that might be interested in getting the Mission Act to work.
• There will be a mini session in Winona on October 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. The agenda has not been shared yet.
• The MN Association of CVSOs will have their banquet at Grandview Lodge on September 9th. Bob Dettmer will be speaking.
• Bob Dettermer will be speaking at the Commander’s Taskforce Leadership Summit at Camp Ripley.
• Bob Dettmer will be attending the Dedication Ceremony for the Veterans Cemetery in Duluth on September 21st.
Disabled American Veterans –Trent Dilks
• Not present.
MN CVSO – Greg Peterson reporting
• Our 75th Annual Banquet will be held on September 9th.
• The election for the new head will take place on September 11th.
• All service officers are governor by state statute and appointed by boards of county commissioners. We are at the sole discretion of those county commissioners as to how they wish to utilize us, and most CVSOs work in stand-alone departments. Others work in Health and Human Services. There are some ongoing issues. Service Officers in Winona County sued their county administrator in federal court because the administrator would not allow them to approach the county board, attend MACV Stand Downs, or let the head CVSO supervise the assistant CVSO. The case was settled out of court. In Millie Lacs County, the Service Officer was on FMLA and was demoted to Assistant Service Officer upon his return, while promoting the Assistant Service Officer to full Service Officer. We have written them a letter addressing our concerns with this and noting the two positions are not equivalent. In Pine County, a Service Officer was told by his administrator that he was gone too much for military training. Some Service Officers do not feel empowered to stand up for their rights, so we will do so for them.
Vets for Peace – Jeff Roy reporting
• The monthly informational picketing on the bridge was held on September 4th to raise awareness of flaws in the Mission Act and the potential of VA privatization over time. We are concerned about the lack of oversight for community care providers and sights, lack of data, and the potential increase of the VA budget. Additionally, the staff for community care sites do not generally have as high a competency level as VA staffers in terms of veteran issues like PTSD, TBI, and Military Sexual Trauma.
• The first public demonstration by VA union activists was held on 54th and Hiawatha in August to express their concerns about the talks underway by VA National around contracts. VA National wants to take a number of employee protections out of the contracts.
MN Humanities Center – Blake Rondeau
• Not present.
Paralyzed Veterans of America – Todd Kemery
• Nothing to report.
Project Got Your Back / MNME – Allison Alstrin reporting
• The Bush Innovation Grant was awarded to Project Got Your Back. We have been moving forward with the work of coordinating veterans groups. There will be a meeting on September 4th to help continue bringing statewide organizations together with state and federal leadership to ensure there are clear lines of communication on what issues are being addressed.
• Starting on September 9th, Project Got Your Back will start a focus on regional efforts. We will be building a group to meet monthly to discuss taskforces on various relevant issues, such as veteran homelessness.
• In the past, Project Got Your Back has brought service providers together on a monthly basis to share resources and strategies. On September 18th, there will be the first of what will be a quarterly meeting bringing service providers and corporations together to discuss how best to support veteran issues. The meeting will be held from 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM. Lunch will be provided.
MN Military Museum – Randal Dietrich reporting
• As the school year has started, the museum is putting together information for students and curriculum materials for schools.
• On September 6th, we will be hosting the MN House Capital Investment Committee as part of their Bonding Bus Tour. They will be touring the facility and hear our pitch for a new museum.
• On September 15th, the museum and Camp Ripley as a whole will be hosting their open house from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM. The theme this year will be the Air Force.
• The Vietnam War Roundtable will be resuming every third Monday of the month from September to May. The next event will be held at Concordia University at 7:00 PM on September 16th. More information about the series and ongoing collaboration with Concordia University is available at (mnvietnam.org)
MN Historical Society – Chris Belland reporting
• We are in the process of moving out of the old visitor’s center, which will be demolished, and into the cavalry barracks. We expect the process to be completed in the fall of 2021.
• School tour season will start this fall.
• There is an ongoing process for public input on a possible name change for the greater Ft. Snelling area. The stone fort will not change. Public input forms will be published on September 9th. To receive more information or give your input, please contact (mnhs.org/naming) or call (651) 259-3470.
Q. Where did the impetus for the name change and the broader focus on history come from?
A. The focus on history has always been there but there has been an expansion in the past 10 years to look at the impact of slavery in Ft. Snelling, as well as Native American history. We are interested in expanding stories and touch on broader, far ranging history.