UVLC Minutes of the October 4,2006 Meeting
• Call to order by the Chairman, Jerry Kyser
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Invocation-Chaplain LTC Rob Lubben
• Recognition of visitors and guests and Commander’s of VSO’s
• Reports from:
1. Chairman –
Thank you for all of the support for the POW-MIA Recognition day. Ralph and I were both at Grandview for the county veteran service officer’s convention. The military appreciation walk was held at the metro dome. For participation, they gave tickets for local sporting events. There was recognition of all of our fallen soldiers. I represented the UVLC at the opening ceremonies for the U of M Stadium groundbreaking. It is scheduled to open in
October of 2009.
2. Vice Chairman-
Ralph Don’t forget about the standdown in St Cloud on October 27, 2006.
3. Recognition for Steve Musser-
The UVLC awarded Steve a certificate of appreciation for his seven years of service to the MN Veteran’s Home. Steve thanked the UVLC for the support that he has received over these past years. “Most important part of that role was to ensure that the care that we provide for our veterans is done with respect and compassion. I’ve served 7 years with the Veteran’s Home Board and 27 years with the Dept of Veteran Affairs. During those 33 years, I have been able to work with so many wonderful people, many who have been mentors and teachers. A number of these people are in this room today and I want to personally thank you for your counsel and guidance over the years. It takes a team to accomplish what we have done. I am humbled by your thoughtfulness of this award and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I commend you for the work that you do.”
4. State Agencies
• MN Dept of Veteran Affairs-Mike Pugliese-Deputy Commissioner thanked everyone for their support at the Summit. There were about 750 people with over 20 workshops throughout the day. We handed out a large number of workbooks. Let us know if you need one. Introduced Christine Kiel, who worked for the Senate. She is the new legislative coordinator. Julie Carie-MDVA-Website is up and running. You can view the videos from the Summit on the website. Educate, outreach has been the overwhelming theme. There have been 17,000 support our troops license plates sold. Motorcycle plates are also now available.
• MN Military Affairs-LTC Eric Ahlness-What is going on in the Guard around the world. 2,600 are in Iraq. When an injury happens, the soldier is handed a cell phone immediately so that they can have contact with their family. We have a casualty officer in the state that has contact with the family so that there is accurate information to report to the families. Afghanistan there is a 30-person unit that is training the army. Border security is operation jump-start with 40 people serving the Mexican US border. The US Congress passed both the defense authorization and the
appropriation bill. Two things should be pointed out. Fund the reintegration program with 3 million dollars for all servicemen and women coming back to the US. Thanks to Senator Dayton and Congressman Klein and Sabo office. There was also a one million dollar authorization for the counter drug program. This is integrated into the schools and local law enforcement.
• State Legislative Rep-Jeff Johnson-Identity theft legislation. There are now requirements to immediately notify any person who has been a victim of identity theft. When someone’s identity has been stolen, the government will issue an identity theft passport to identify that you are not the thief. You have the right to freeze your security; in other words, no one can open a credit card in your name. It will be easier to get your life back after an identity theft. This has been passed on a bipartisan basis. Jerry Kyser had a question about how the attorney generals office has been dealing with Power of Attn, divorce and custody hearings when it relates to the Veteran. The response was that this is in relation to the civil relief act of 1940. A soldier who has been deployed cannot loose custody of their child when they are deployed. It has to wait until they are back. There are a lot of lawyers who do not understand this act. This would be a priority as the Attorney General. We need to have a much stronger financial theft task force.
• MN Veteran Home-Sandy Larson- Mpls, two administrative assistants have been hired. They are going through training. The board is moving forward for the hiring process for a new administrative director. This will take at least 6 months. The legislative package is being worked on. A Thank you to Pat and Julie for their hard work at the Veterans Summit. It was great exposure for the Veteran Homes.
• Pat Turgeon- The Summit was a great day for everybody. The networking was wonderful. There was a resource guide at the Summit. The legislative package is being worked on. Ralph mentioned that the legislative issue of Power of Authority has been brought up, as well as reintegration. Extension of TriCare is an issue that should be a part of legislation. The reservists get paid one month education for each month of active duty, the national guard now get free education. It needs to be equal to all branches of the service.
• MN Assistance Council for Vets-Carla-Thank you for the Governors Summit. In the next couple of weeks there will be veterans moving into our housing at Mankato.
5. Federal Agencies
• VA Regional Office-Sue Ihrke-The was an installation ceremony for Jeff Alger. There is a group coming from Saint Cloud Medical Center. Our leadership team will be giving them an overview of VVA and what we do on the VVA side of the House.
• VISN 23-Rob McDivitt-Region 23 just closed their fiscal year 06. Record number of veterans cared for. Spent 48 million dollars for equipment. We are anticipating a healthy budget. Community based outpatient clinics are moving forward. Northwest Wisconsin is moving ahead. The UVLC is a wonderful forum. I have been appointed to the regional director in Fargo North Dakota. It has been a pleasure being a part of this organization for the past two decades.
• Mpls VA Hospital-Mike Sebennaler-We do random surveys all of the time. Often times they are looking for people for research, and others are customer satisfaction surveys. If anyone has a copy of one of the surveys, please give them to Mike. There is flu shot schedules available. 612-725-2000. Primary care call center number is 612-725-1110 or 866-414-5058 ext 1100. This is staffed from 7AM-7PM Monday through Friday. Questions about medication, primary care clinic. The construction is near completion. Waiting list is 3-5 weeks for most patients. On the application for health care, there is a question about exposure to Agent Orange. If it is checked yes, our eligibility officer will call the veteran. They will be categorized as a group 6. Once they are found to be eligible they will be set up for a primary care appointment. The Dr. will then write out their prescriptions.
• Jimmie L. Coulthard – Cruse-Miller Garrison-October 25, Wednesday at 9:00AM will be dedication of the new community housing. The Governor, MN Housing Finance Agency, Hennepin County Commissioners and others. On Nov 11 at 2:00 PM. We will be having a ceremony of dedication for all of the people who have put this together.
There were so many heartfelt people who have made this dream possible. We want to honor the development of this needed community. There are 140 apartments in Minneapolis and 60 in St Cloud. There is an income qualification. We provide treatment, jobs, and a home. The prospect has to provide a rent resume for review. When the resident follows their program and stays clean they can stay as long as they wish. The whole heart of this is principles before personalities.
• St Cloud VA Hospital-Barry Bahl-We are very fortunate to have Jimmie Coulthard as an advocate due to his compassion for the veteran. October 12 at 1:00,”Beyond the yellow ribbon.” This is a joint effort between the National Guard and the St Cloud Hospital. Major Morris and other Iraq soldiers will be talking about resources for
integration. We have surpassed 30,000 veterans now at St Cloud. We are becoming one of the bigger VA’s in the region. There were 42 retirements at the VA in the last year. The Dental Clinic expansion will be done before Christmas. The Hospice project is about one half done. We had a Festival of Nations that was very successful. 200+
nursing home patients were able to attend.
• Ft Snelling Cemetery-Art Smith-Sept–361 internments, 51%casket/49%cremation. The total interment is 117,001. A project is ongoing as a five-year project to raise and align the headstones. The budget is 4 million dollars per year. There is a request for five additional positions. The Columbarium will be open within 60 days. Fort Snelling
is a National Treasure.
• Other Organizations-Jeff Seeber-Armed Forces Day, May 19, 2007 11:00 at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. The Military Salute Project is representing Bugles Across America to coordinate the event. Individuals, Patriotic groups, Military Support Groups, Service and Civic Organizations, Color Guards and Honor Guards, Buglers, Bagpipers and Brass Players are encouraged to visit http://www1.va.gov/volunteer/spotlight.html and register to volunteer. For more information call 651-730-5626 or contact Jeff at condocat@att.net
6. Federal Congressional Reps
• 7th District Collin Peterson-Al Loehr-Special thanks to Jimmie Coulthard for the work that he has done with the housing. Met with Congressional delegation in Washington. We had discussions about the support of adequate VA funding for health care program. The next issue is removing the $1,200 fee for the Montgomery GI Bill. VFW took a
strong position against having attorneys be able to do initial VA claims. We trust that other organizations will feel the same. We strongly endorse the exemption of taxes on military retiree pensioned. The CTF also endorses the same program along with Gov Pawlenty. Senator Craig from Idaho is the person responsible for the amendment to
increase the severe mental health program from 7 to 9 million dollars. Please attend future forums.
• Senator Coleman-Greg Gorham- Thanks to Senator Dayton for supporting the 3 million dollars for the reintegration of our troops. We are committed to getting medals for WWII veterans. We want to speed the claim process for the Atomic Veterans. There are a lot of claims that are backed up. Some have been taking up
to 16 months.
• Senator Dayton-Nate Arch-This may be my last meeting here. It’s been grand. It really came down to the conference committee to pass the reintegration. It is a great program that the Guard is involved with. Coming back is the tough part. Questions were asked about TRI Care Premiums and how they worked. Nate was going to research the question.
3rd District-Jim Ramstad-Brian Nelson-One bill that was passed was the Public
Expression of Religion Act. This will make it possible to not have to pay for the winner’s attorney fees. Military Tribunal Bill passed and was signed into Law .
2nd District-John Kline-Larry Johnson-When we come back in Nov, we have the Vet Appropriations Bill, which is an 11% increase in the House. We do have the beauty of the continuing resolution, which keeps the Government moving without having bills passed.
4th District-Betty McCollum-Josh Straka-Quoted from letter to the President: the letter urges adequate funding for FY08. Providing for families of veterans. The congresswoman was concerned about the respect that we should have for all religions and not just have one large cross in a California veteran’s cemetery. It was pointed out that there were other religious symbols at the cemetery, but that the cross was the largest. Bush declared this cemetery a National Monument, thus negating any chance of removing the cross. Announcements: Ralph Donais is unhappy about the government changing the health care benefits for retirees and having them make a monthly payment, when the promise was that this would not happen. He also mentioned how our MN businesses can profit from the retirees. As long as we have tax for their retirement, they will not come here for employment. Remember our website mnuvlc.org
7. Meeting in Recess for 10 minutes
8. Old Business-
No official financial report from treasurer. There is over $4,000 in the account. Approved expenses for travel and printing of minutes and agenda.
9. New Business-
It was approved that the chairman be added to the certificates of deposit at the University Bank as they become due. Al Loehr mentioned that we should be spending more time talking about legislative issues. We should not be bringing in candidates for office before they have been elected. It was approved to give the Governor a certificate of
appreciation for all of his initiatives at the Dec 6th meeting. The military and veterans action group meeting is on October 23rd at the State office building at 11:00. Approval to pay for the website cost. The next meeting will be November 1, 2006 at 9:30AM at Building 9 on the VA Campus.