Ensuring Veterans Participate in the Freedoms They Fought to Protect

From the Legislature
By Vin Gopal, Eric Houghtaling and Joann Downey
In celebrating our nation’s independence last weekend, our thoughts naturally go to the men and women of the armed forces who sacrificed so much to maintain it.

While we will never be able to fully repay our veterans for their service, as legislators, we strive to make sure they get the same opportunities as every resident to realize the fruits of that independence: Success in a job or business, access to a good education, home ownership, and a safe place to live.

When we ensure their participation in the benefits of a prosperous middle class, we build a stronger economy and a fairer, more equitable and affordable society. That’s why we fought hard in Trenton to make honorably discharged veterans eligible for a $6,000 exemption on their 2019 state income tax returns.

Another piece of sponsored legislation, A4042, would establish a price preference program on State contracts for service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. If the disabled veterans’ business meets the requirements of the contract and is within 10 percent of the lowest bidder, the state would award them the contract. We’ve also introduced a bill in the Senate, S3986, to make $2.5 million in federal CARES Act funds available to NJ Economic Development Authority to support veteran-owned businesses.

The Senate and Assembly have passed a package of eight bills introduced in the Senate Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, which Senator Gopal chairs, aimed at addressing some of the experiences our veterans had at the veterans memorial homes during the pandemic.

The bills would require veteran memorial homes operated by the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMAVA) to communicate with veterans’ guardians by at least two means of communication. In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic frustrated family members called our office almost daily seeking information about their loved ones in state-operated veterans homes.

The package includes legislation to allow a veteran’s guardian to remove their loved one from a DMAVA veterans’ memorial home under certain emergency circumstances, and to keep guardians informed through quarterly town hall meetings.

The bills would require each state veterans’ memorial home to create the position of resident advocate, and require the administrator and assistant administrator of the home have prior work experience in a clinical setting.

Recognizing that the quality of veterans memorial home operations starts at the top, the bill package includes legislation to require the Director of Division of Veterans’ Healthcare Services in DMAVA have prior clinical and long-term care experience. That background is essential to understanding the needs of veterans and developing solutions that provide a better quality of life.

The final pieces of the bill package would require each facility to provide payroll-based journal information to NJ Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and call for the Adjutant General of DMAVA to send weekly reports to the Commissioner of Department of Health on the status of veterans’ homes during public health emergencies.

These bills have in common the goal of making sure veterans are recognized for their service and as a vital part of the fabric of the middle class whose values they served to protect.

Stay safe.