Martha Marx

SENATOR MARX LEADS COMMITTEE APPROVAL OF LEGISLATION TO EASE VETERAN STATE BENEFIT ACCESS

Today, State Senator Martha Marx (D-New London) led the Veterans’ and Military Affairs Committee’s approval of legislation seeking to ease veterans’ access to state benefits. The legislation would exclude veterans’ disability payments from calculations of income when determining their eligibility to receive certain benefits. The bill passed the committee and will now progress to consideration by the House and Senate.

“Veterans who have sacrificed for our country to the extent that they receive disability payments should not be penalized for receiving those payments,” said Sen. Marx. “As a visiting nurse, I have witnessed many times our veterans not qualifying for the homecare program for elders, or fuel assistance, because of small disability pensions. Too many veterans in our state have seen their disability payments considered in their eligibility for state benefits – and have been rejected because of those benefits. Housing assistance, pension benefits and more important aid shouldn’t be impacted by disability payments being considered income. With this change, we’ll provide financial support to many Connecticut veterans.”

House Bill 1132, “An Act Excluding Disability Payments From Income For Purposes Of Eligibility For Certain State Benefits,” would exclude veterans’ disability payment compensation from their income when considering their eligibility for state benefits including rental and housing assistance, property tax relief, Medicare coverage, temporary family assistance, postpartum care assistance, and HUSKY B coverage, among other benefits.

In testimony provided to the Committee, Diane Nadeau, executive director of the Eastern Connecticut Veterans Community Center, testified in support of the bill. Nadeau noted the ECVCC provides aid to more than 15,000 veterans; in the past, she found that rendering them with aid to receive benefits they are eligible for has made them ineligible for support programs including energy assistance, food supplementation or housing assistance. This leads to consequences that could go as far as veterans turning down or voluntarily having benefits revoked to keep access to other services.

Alison Weir, executive director of the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center, testified with similar instances of disabled veterans experiencing financial issues made worse by the collision between disability payments and other aid programs. “We are always cognizant that an increase in [disability] rating may decrease any state aid the veteran may be receiving,” Weir testified.