Martha Marx

SENATOR MARX LEADS SENATE PASSAGE OF BILL ADDING VETERAN SERVICE OFFICERS TO OFFICE OF ADVOCACY AND ASSISTANCE

Today, State Senator Martha Marx (D-New London), Senate Chair of the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, led the Senate’s passage of legislation that will add two veteran service officers to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Advocacy and Assistance, who will work to oversee and support municipal efforts to help veterans in the state. It also increases that office’s minimum number of veteran service officers from six to eight and the office’s total staff from eight to ten.

“This bill will ensure that veterans in Connecticut have more advocates who can hear them and respond to their needs,” said Sen. Marx. “We owe those who have fought and served to defend our country the services and aid they deserve. I’m proud we’re meeting that goal and I’m proud to see this bill advance out of the Senate.”

Senate Bill 634, “An Act Concerning Municipal Veterans Services,” will require at least two veteran service officers in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ to be responsible for municipal compliance with municipal veteran representative program requirements. These individuals will work to connect veterans with municipal aid programs and oversee those programs’ administration of services.

The bill received support from former Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Thomas Saadi, the Connecticut Council of Small Towns and the Eastern Connecticut Veterans Community Center. It previously received unanimous support from the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee and Appropriations Committee. It now proceeds to the House for further consideration.