Bills Come After Special Joint Hearing on Issues Facing
Women Veterans
(TRENTON) – Legislation Assembly Democrats Pamela Lampitt, Bob
Andrzejczak, Vince Mazzeo, Cleopatra Tucker, Troy Singleton and Raj Mukherji
sponsored to help New Jersey’s veterans – especially women veterans - obtain
the help and services they need was released Wednesday by an Assembly panel.
The Assembly Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee chaired by
Tucker released the bills after a joint hearing with the Assembly Women and
Children Committee chaired by Lampitt on issues facing women veterans.
Under A-3749,
sponsored by Lampitt, Mazzeo, Andrzejczak and Mukherji, the Department of
Military and Veterans’ Affairs is to establish a program to provide assistance
to qualified veterans in in-patient and out-patient treatment programs to travel
to attend counseling programs within this state.
“Many
veterans are unable to take advantage of helpful treatment programs in New
Jersey because of the difficulty in arranging transportation," said Lampitt
(D-Camden/Burlington). "This bill will promote transportation assistance to
veterans in order to ensure our veterans have the access to quality care they
deserve."
“Counseling
programs are vital for many of our veterans, who sacrificed so much serving our
country,” said Mazzeo (D-Atlantic). “Unfortunately, getting to these programs
can prove difficult for many veterans, so the least we can do is create a
program to ensure they can travel to attend these
programs.”
“Having
programs for our veterans is important, but our veterans need to be able to
travel to them for them to be of value, which can be a difficult task for many,”
said Andrzejczak (D-Atlantic/Cape May/Cumberland), who is a disabled U.S. Army
veteran wounded in Iraq. “If we truly want to help veterans, we need to ensure
they can take full advantage of the programs there to help them, so that’s the
goal of this bill.”
“Making sure
our veterans can get to the programs they need is basic common sense,” said
Mukherji (D-Hudson), who served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. “Veterans in
treatment programs who need counseling programs deserve basic services,
especially when it can be easily accomplished.”
Under the
bill, the department would:
· Develop,
in cooperation with NJ Transit, a program to provide assistance to qualified
veterans to travel to and from counseling within the state using any motorbus or
rail passenger service conducted by the corporation, whenever possible, without
charge or the payment of a fee by the veteran;
·
Develop,
in coordination with NJ Transit, a form of identification that permits a
qualified veteran to be identified as a participant in the program established
by this section; and
·
Notify
the general public and eligible veterans that the program established by this
section is available to qualified veterans.
The bill also
directs NJ Transit to cooperate with the Department of Military and Veterans’
Affairs to effectuate the program.
Meanwhile,
A-3750, sponsored by Lampitt, Tucker, Andrzejczak and Singleton, would require
the Adjutant General to create a public webpage with information specifically
for female veterans.
"We know that dedicated programs and information to assist
female veterans returning from service can prove extraordinarily helpful in
helping female veterans transition to civilian life," Lampitt said. "This
legislation ensures that this information to benefit female veterans is easy to
find and provides one stop for all the essential information they need."
“The webpage
must include, but is not limited to, veterans’ legal rights, benefits, medical
and insurance issues, education and the transition from active service to
civilian life,” said Tucker (D-Essex). “This web site should be easily
accomplished and would surely prove immensely helpful to women
veterans.”
“We should
make it as easy as possible for veterans to get the help and services they
need,” Andrzejczak said. “We all need to support ways to make it easier for
veterans to transition to civilian life.”
“A webpage for
female veterans would be a comprehensive source of information so that female
veterans may be informed of the rights of veterans and the resources available
to veterans without having to gather such information in a piecemeal fashion,”
said Singleton (D-Burlington). “Creating a one-step web site for women veterans
makes common sense and would go a long way to ensuring they get the help they
need.”
