TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

County to lobby for 2nd regional veterans office

ADVERTISEMENT

By CARL ORTH

The Suncoast News

Published: October 30, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - The federal government should lead the battle to provide benefits for veterans, not Pasco County, officials here say.

Commission Chairman Jack Mariano provided commissioners with a draft copy of a proclamation that might be sent to President Barack Obama and members of Congress.

A second U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office is needed in Florida to "decrease the backlog of pending veterans claims and to expedite the benefits to those who have dedicated themselves to preserving our heritage of freedom and advancing the cause of world peace," the county proclamation reads in part.

Commissioners are scheduled to vote on the matter Tuesday. The proclamation comes after debate this summer over the county budget as property tax revenue plunged during the recession.

The Pasco Veterans Council mobilized its members against a preliminary proposal to slash the Pasco Division of Veterans Affairs budget by some 60 percent - from $264,370 with six positions to $103,362 with two positions.

More than 3,700 people signed a petition protesting the deep cuts. About 54,000 veterans live in Pasco County.

Ultimately, the Pasco veterans office got a reprieve when the county gained access to other revenue sources at the last minute. The agency still has five staff positions.

"The veterans services officers are excellent" in assisting with VA claims and appeals, Dan Johnson, assistant county administrator for public services, said in July.

"The question comes up, though," why the county should fund an agency to deal primarily with a federal government agency, Johnson said. At the time, layoffs of hundreds of county staff members had appeared inevitable.

Johnson said he had urged veterans council leaders to contact U.S. representatives and senators about fixing the VA claims process. "I think there's a problem with the (federal) system," Johnson said.

In that vein, the proclamation explains how the Veterans Benefits Administration by the end of 2007 had more than 391,000 rating cases pending. More than a fourth of those cases had been pending for 180 days or longer.

"In a 2008 report to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs," the proclamation reads, "the American Legion stated that there was a 20-30 percent error rate on processing claims (and) a combined remand and reversal rate of 56 percent by the Board of Veterans' Appeals."

In the meantime, "Florida has the second highest number of veterans in the country, and one of the highest remand and reversal rates out of all the 57 regional VA offices across the United States."

The proclamation concludes that "freedom is not free, veterans have paid the price by leaving their families and communities behind and placing themselves in harm's way for the good of all and should be entitled to receive their benefits in an efficient and timely manner and should not be subjected to substandard services by the very nation that they fought to preserve and protect."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT