Press Conference and Rally for Military Service Credit

 Last-minute notice for NYC area vets to publicly support S4124/A4313A. Veterans organizations  are leading a public confrontation  to  Mayor de Blasio's opposition to Military Service Credit. (link is here). Go join them in support.



NEW YORK (April 15, 2015) - The city’s top veterans leaders — Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), members of the Veteran Advisory Board, and local and national veteran organizations, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America, Military Officers Association of America, and NYC Veteran Alliance — will hold a press conference Thursday, April 16 on the steps of New York City Hall. During the unity press event, the groups will call on Mayor de Blasio to deliver real results for the city’s 200,000 veterans.

Since taking office 15 months ago, the mayor has not made veterans issues a priority for his administration despite the enormous challenges that the community faces. During this press conference, the veterans community will stand as one to urge the mayor to prioritize veterans issues and provide concrete policy solutions for the mayor to make a real impact in the lives of veterans in NYC.
IAVA will emphasize that veterans represent generations of leaders in the community and that the mayor needs to show that he cares by presenting a plan with real action and resources. While we appreciate the appointment of Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton (Ret.) as the Commissioner of Veterans Affairs and signing the recent reforms to the Veteran Advisory Board, overall the mayor’s record has not demonstrated that veterans are a priority for his administration. This has been evident in his opposition, which led to a veto of a state-level veterans pension bill as well as the miniscule budget of MOVA.

In October 2014, IAVA provided Sutton, Commissioner of Veterans Affairs, with a set of policy recommendations as a means to develop a comprehensive policy plan for New York City and its veterans.
Those recommendations can be found here.

WHO: IAVA, the city’s top veterans leaders, members of the Veteran Advisory Board and local and national veteran organizations including VFW, VVA, MOAA, and NYC Veteran Alliance.
WHEN: Thursday, April 16, 2015, 3:00 – 4:00 pm
WHERE: Steps of New York City Hall
City Hall Park, New York, NY 10007

Note to media: Email press@iava.org or call 212-982-9699 to speak with IAVA CEO and Founder Paul Rieckhoff or IAVA leadership.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (www.IAVA.org) is the leading post-9/11 veteran empowerment organization (VEO) with the most diverse and rapidly growing membership in America. Celebrating its 10th year anniversary, IAVA has repeatedly received the highest rating - four-stars - from Charity Navigator, America's largest charity evaluator.

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PRESS CONTACT

Tel: 212-982-9699

press@iava.org

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Press Account from the Event:

Veterans also assailed Mr. de Blasio for failing to back an expansion of a pension buy-back system for veterans last year. Under current law, vets who served in Iraq and other prior conflicts can get credit for three years toward their pensions if they enter civil service, but those who served in Afghanistan can’t. In a letter to the governor urging a veto, Mr. de Blasio’s office last year said the expansion would also include peacetime vets and be too costly.

“He felt it cost too much,” said Tireak Tulloch, a Marine Corps veteran from Brooklyn said during the rally. “There’s no other words that need to be said.”

Read more at http://observer.com/2015/04/as-veterans-groups-knock-de-blasio-commissioner-welcomes-the-energy/#ixzz3XYbkv3am 
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Still Fighting For Equity and Honor

Mission: Motivate the Assembly  (A04313) and the Senate  (S4124) to pass the Veterans' Equality Act and place it on Governor Cuomo's desk to be signed into law.

Instructions:

• Visit your Assembly representative's home office between  April 6 - April 17, call (contact list) first to get an appointment with your representative or senior staffer. They are working from their district offices during this time. Not Albany. Prep first with your own story AND these slides.
•  Call and email New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie  (718)-654-6539, Speaker@assembly.state.ny.us and New York State Senate President Dean Skelos (516) 766-8383,
  (518) 455-3171, skelos@nysenate.gov  to put A4313 and S4124 to a vote in their respective chambers.
• Call and email your Assembly Representative (contact list) and Senator (contact list) to sign on as a sponsor for the respective bills.  
• Rally support from veterans groups, women's groups and the public at large.  
• Write advocacy  letters to your local newspaper (see #7 here for an example). Here is one written by one of our own on April 6, 2015. So far this is the only one I have heard of.
• Demonstrate veteran initiative to bring attention to this cause - there is no state organization (yet) or veterans group dedicated to fighting for equity and honor for all NY's veterans.

Implementing Instructions: Utilize this website for self education and for information concerning the glaring inequities in current law.  Lead with the strongest arguments for equity and honor.

• Excluded veterans include combat, wartime, and Cold War. The most persuasive inequities are combat, women, and wartime. Study these slides to become an educated and  persuasive proponent of the Veterans' Equality Act.
• The Assembly is the weak link. Mayor de Blasio exerts great influence there. Since we know he has an ideological antipathy to the victorious Cold War veterans (his side lost the Cold War), we need to double down on the combat, wartime, and female inequities wrought by our peculiar current law. 

End State: Governor Cuomo signs the Veterans Equality Act Into Law


Inspiration:

The Military Service Credit Buyback Bill (Veterans Buyback Bill) was not included in this year’s budget. Over the last few days I have fought till the end of the budget process in hopes of having it included, down to the last minute. As the prime sponsor of this Bill I am both disappointed and angry.

While the Senate included the Veterans Buyback Bill in its one-house budget resolution, the Assembly did not. This weakened the chances of the legislation being negotiated into the final budget.

While the Governor and the Assembly did not accept the Senate’s effort to include the Veterans Buyback Bill in the budget, I want to assure everyone that this issue is not over.

The Senate Republican Conference passed the Veterans Buyback Bill twice last year and remains fully committed to it becoming law. I will continue to be the prime sponsor and advocate for this Bill; S4124.

Please consider calling your local Assembly representative to find out what they are doing to support this very important piece of legislation. I will continue to update you on the status of this Bill and also what you can do to help. God Bless our Veterans.  - Senator Bill Larkin, March 31, 2015



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