A temporary setback for those of us fighting for honor and equity for all
veterans. Despite the obvious inequities in current law, discriminatory effect of current law on female veterans, unanimous
passage in the Senate (57 to 0), and nearly unanimous passage in the
Assembly (133 to 1), the Governor vetoed S7839/A6974 (The Veterans Equity Act) on November 7, 2014.
Equity for Wartime Veterans and Cold War Veterans will have to wait...but we did defeat the Soviets and triumph over terrorism so this is not stopping us.
Equity for Wartime Veterans and Cold War Veterans will have to wait...but we did defeat the Soviets and triumph over terrorism so this is not stopping us.
What we will do in response:
Nevertheless, on November 15, Ms. Howard sent the 3000+ signatures and strongly worded message to every member of the Senate and Assembly as well as the Governor.(February 27, 2015 update: 4,800 signatures.)
2. Write your local paper criticizing the Governor's veto of this bill.
- November 18th Letter to the Legislative Gazette from a wartime veteran
- November 17 Lettters to Syracuse. com from the wife of a wartime veteran.
- November 13 Letter to The Queens Chronicle from a local VFW Commander
- Article that fairly depicts current law and fairly presents the vetoed bill
- Another accurate article that nails all the inequities in current law on military service credit
- Local TV coverage of the veto and mention of upcoming budget negotiation for it
- November 17 local news coverage with assembly member comments and predictions. News station believes all wartime veterans already covered under current law.
- November 24 Legislative Gazette
- November 30 Poughkeepsie Journal
- December 1 NYC Council Urges Veto Override
- December 3, More info on NYC Council Urging Veto Override
Right now the bill is being rewritten to go thru the entire process again (in both Senate and Assembly) in the upcoming session (2015). It will have a new name. Simultaneously, draft budget discussions are ongoing that will result in funding for our bill (if we keep the pressure on). After a funding estimate is attached to the bill (ERS, etc has actuarial input on the estimate...so there is a delay here), the bill will proceed (if we keep the pressure on) as it did last year from committee to committee. The funds hedged/committed during (draft and final) budget negotiations for the new bill should match the funding estimate from ERS (etc) within the bill at this point. The end state should be the passage of a bill for all veterans in both houses with funding estimate and budgeted funds....and a governor signature in the end.
A few astute observers noted that the Assembly stripped out the funding for the bill prior to voting 'yes' (133-1) on June 18 2014, thus forcing the Senate to quickly rewrite and re-vote a matching bill the next day. (Mismatched bills cannot proceed.). This was the last day of session for the year. The resulting bill lacked the funding language, thus enabling Governor Cuomo to veto it while claiming the high road of fiscal responsibility. Given our 5.1 Billion surplus (as of November 2014) and even the overguesstimated figure of 57 million in costs quoted in the Governor's veto message, a few astute observers have referred to the Assembly's deliberate actions as calculating, transparent, and particularly cynical.
Mayor DiBlasio's letter recommending disapproval for the bill for all vets nevertheless repeatedly indicated strong approval for a bill including all wartime veterans. Read his memo here. Since we have been at war since 1990, this covers most of those who would be affected by our bill. Further, the issue of official discrimination against women should strike a note with his constituents (if not the Mayor) and thus the only remaining uncovered 'peacetime' (AKA Cold War) 1975-1990 period should be palatable even to his taste. See here.
Thus, by forestalling the funding pretext, educating folks on the actual wartime and cold war veterans effected, and reminding folks of the effects of past discrimination against servicewomen, the bill should become law. With our pressure. Smart pressure. See here.
- Call the Governor's office. (518) 474-8390. Tell them to include the funding for S7839/A6974 in the draft budgets they are currently preparing and to put it in the final budget early next year. Gov. Cuomo specifically suggested this in his veto message. This is a very realistic possibility.
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| Assemblywoman Paulin rallies the vets! |
- Call and email your local representatives and the key Senate and Assembly leaders (outside of your own) who can fight for our bill's funding during budget drafting and negotiations beginning right now: (Note, a great contact list for the Assembly is here, a great contact list for the Senate is here)
New York State Senate President Dean Skelos (516) 766-8383,
(518) 455-3171, skelos@nysenate.gov
4. Confront and Defeat the "Peacetime Veterans" lie. Since the bill primarily addresses wartime veterans this is outrageous. It's root may be in the unofficial and horribly constructed summary of the bill. Not the bill itself of course. The lie seems to be in almost all articles about the Governor's veto - and most prevalent in those articles that seem to favor his veto. Idealogue E.J. McMahon was twice corrected for peddling this canard and has edited (begrudgingly) his posts. He also apparently cannot properly count the vote in the Assembly and House - perhaps because both houses overwhelmingly supported the bill. AP writer Michael Virtanen's use of the lie seems more innocent, though his writing reaches a substantial audience. See my recent post, here for the facts on current law and the bill.
Here is my most recent letter to the editor:
Sir/Madam:
Your Nov. 13 article (Brooklyn Daily Eagle) titled "Pols Vow action after Cuomo Vetoes Military Pension Bill" by Paula Katinas was wholly inaccurate on one very important point. I have excerpted your article, below:
"The bill, which was sponsored by state Sen. Bill Larkin in the senate and by Assemblymember Amy Paulin in the assembly, would have amended the New York State Military Service Credit Law to authorize state and municipal pension credits for peacetime military service. If the bill had become law, veterans who work for the state or city would have been allowed to use their peacetime service as credits toward pension benefits when they retire.
Specifically, the Larkin-Paulin bill would have allowed veterans who served during peacetime to purchase up to three years of extra pension credit at a greatly discounted price."
The bill will not primarily impact 'peacetime service" veterans it will primarily impact wartime service veterans. Excluded US veterans, who served in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Guantanamo Bay, Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Okinawa, Somalia, South Korea, United States and in all but a handful of nations during the current wartime (Gulf War Era, 1990-Present) era are working to purchase military service credit.
It is true that some soldiers from the much shorter peacetime (AKA Cold War) period (1976-1989) may also qualify. Women from this same 'peacetime' period are particularly concerned because they were all but banned from the three specific periods (Panama, Grenada, Lebanon) within this peacetime (AKA Cold War) period that actually qualify to purchase military service credit.
You may or may not be aware that under current law all veterans who served anywhere or anytime during the wartime Vietnam Era (1961-1975) already qualify to purchase military service credit.
If you could publish a correction and/or include this as a letter to the editor in your online and print editions it would be much appreciated.
Respectfully,
Robert K. Browne
Afghanistan, 2004
Phone: xxx-xxx-xxxx
Fix NY 's Military Service Credit Law : FIX CURRENT LAW WITH SENATE BILL 7839
(518) 455-3171, skelos@nysenate.gov
- Call and email the authors of the bill: Assemblywoman Paulin (914-723-1115, 518-455-5585, PaulinA@assembly.state.ny.us ) in the Assembly and Senator Larkin [ (845) 567-1270, (518) 455-2770, larkin@senate.state.ny.us ] in the House. Urge them to keep fighting.
4. Confront and Defeat the "Peacetime Veterans" lie. Since the bill primarily addresses wartime veterans this is outrageous. It's root may be in the unofficial and horribly constructed summary of the bill. Not the bill itself of course. The lie seems to be in almost all articles about the Governor's veto - and most prevalent in those articles that seem to favor his veto. Idealogue E.J. McMahon was twice corrected for peddling this canard and has edited (begrudgingly) his posts. He also apparently cannot properly count the vote in the Assembly and House - perhaps because both houses overwhelmingly supported the bill. AP writer Michael Virtanen's use of the lie seems more innocent, though his writing reaches a substantial audience. See my recent post, here for the facts on current law and the bill.
Here is my most recent letter to the editor:
Sir/Madam:
Your Nov. 13 article (Brooklyn Daily Eagle) titled "Pols Vow action after Cuomo Vetoes Military Pension Bill" by Paula Katinas was wholly inaccurate on one very important point. I have excerpted your article, below:
"The bill, which was sponsored by state Sen. Bill Larkin in the senate and by Assemblymember Amy Paulin in the assembly, would have amended the New York State Military Service Credit Law to authorize state and municipal pension credits for peacetime military service. If the bill had become law, veterans who work for the state or city would have been allowed to use their peacetime service as credits toward pension benefits when they retire.
Specifically, the Larkin-Paulin bill would have allowed veterans who served during peacetime to purchase up to three years of extra pension credit at a greatly discounted price."
The bill will not primarily impact 'peacetime service" veterans it will primarily impact wartime service veterans. Excluded US veterans, who served in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Guantanamo Bay, Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Okinawa, Somalia, South Korea, United States and in all but a handful of nations during the current wartime (Gulf War Era, 1990-Present) era are working to purchase military service credit.
It is true that some soldiers from the much shorter peacetime (AKA Cold War) period (1976-1989) may also qualify. Women from this same 'peacetime' period are particularly concerned because they were all but banned from the three specific periods (Panama, Grenada, Lebanon) within this peacetime (AKA Cold War) period that actually qualify to purchase military service credit.
You may or may not be aware that under current law all veterans who served anywhere or anytime during the wartime Vietnam Era (1961-1975) already qualify to purchase military service credit.
If you could publish a correction and/or include this as a letter to the editor in your online and print editions it would be much appreciated.
Respectfully,
Robert K. Browne
Afghanistan, 2004
Phone: xxx-xxx-xxxx
Fix NY 's Military Service Credit Law : FIX CURRENT LAW WITH SENATE BILL 7839
Received this in response: We've added a couple of sentences at the end of the story: http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2014/11/13/pols-vow-action-after-cuomo-vetoes-military-pension-bill
"A post on a blog called NY Vets For Service Credit called the veto “a temporary setback for those of us fighting for honor and equity for all veterans.”
"The legislation vetoed by Cuomo would have also benefited military
veterans, and not just those who served during peacetime, according to
Golden’s office. For example, the current state statute on pensions for
veterans does not include all of the places where there has been a
military presence, meaning that many veterans have been excluded, aides
to the senator told the Brooklyn Eagle. The bill seeks to extend the opportunity to obtain pension credits to all veterans who were in the military."
I guess this qualifies as a correction in a newspaper. Refusing to use the word "wartime", yet shamelessly flinging around the word "peacetime".
5. Engage The American Legion (Wartime Veteran Status required for membership) and Veterans of Foreign Wars (Wartime Veterans in the Combat Zone), They should be leading the public effort on this fight.
- Both organizations thought the bill only covered peacetime veterans. Not their membership - again, they are wartime organizations. Of course, since the vast majority of applicable veterans are actually wartime this is dead wrong.
6. As I learn more concerning options going forward I will post them on a new front page in the blog. If you want to send something directly to me (for whatever reason) you email can at militaryservicecredit@gmail.com. I think that address is somewhere on this blog as a few of you (like 100) have written directly to me.
7. Sample letter to the editor (feel free to cut and paste and edit and send...there is no copyright)
On November 7, 2014 and despite near unanimous support in the Assembly (133-1) , unanimous support in the Senate (55-0), and the urging of veterans across New York State, Governor Cuomo vetoed The Veterans Equality Act. Both sponsors, again with overwhelming support, have resubmitted the bill.
This bill would allow an honorably discharged veteran to purchase of up to three (3) years of service credit for military duty by removing existing requirements that such military service be performed only during some selected periods, or only upon the receipt of some selected medals, or only in some selected countries.
The bill will primarily impact wartime service veterans. Excluded US veterans, who served in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Guantanamo Bay, Germany, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Okinawa, Somalia, South Korea, United States and in all but a handful of nations during the current wartime (Gulf War Era, 1990-Present) era are seeking pension equity with currently qualifying veterans.
Veterans from the much shorter Cold War period (1976-1989) will also qualify. Women from this period are particularly concerned because they were all but banned (via now-repealed discriminatory laws) from the three short periods within this Cold War period that currently qualify to purchase military service credit.
You may or may not be aware that under current law all military veterans who served anywhere during the wartime Vietnam Era (1961-1975) already qualify to purchase military service credit.
Equity and honor for all our military veterans!
_______________________________________________________________________________
8. Time to regroup and fight again!
PS. Notice Gov Cuomo is not looking that veteran in the eye. We will assist him in being able to look proudly into the eyes of all New York's veterans.
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| New York's Governor Cuomo, one month prior to his November 7, 2014 veto of a bill providing for military service credit for New York veterans of the War in Afghanistan, greeting New York troops in Afghanistan. |
