Editor,
An Indiana General Assembly conference committee is scheduled to meet and discuss specifics regarding an extremely important piece of Indiana veteran legislation, Senate Bill 295. The original legislation, authored by Sen. Jim Banks, opens the Military Family Relief Fund (MFRF) to all veterans.
Amendments have been added to the bill, and we believe that spending money on a state agency with dollars donated through the sale of license plates to help veterans in need, and money delivered directly to the veteran in need are the wrong answers.
Our organizations believe the MFRF is intended to help veterans in need, not subsidize a state agency with $360,000 for training over the next two years. The average grant from MFRF is $2,000. Giving this money to the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) for training for the next two years will potentially take funds from 180 Hoosier veteran families in need.
Our organizations can’t think of any other group of citizens who have subsidized the state in such a way, and we also want to make sure the money is not paid directly to the veteran, but to the vendors they owe. This helps protect the fund and to prevent possible abuse.
Our organizations are excited at the prospect that the Indiana General Assembly will finally open this fund to all veterans, and are thankful to all the legislators who stood by the veteran service organizations.
We as veteran service organizations still have much more work to do. Our veterans want the MFRF protected and used for what it was intended: helping veterans in need.
Larry Lowry
Commander
American Legion, State of Indiana
William “Buzz” Weberding
Commander
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Terry Sanders
Commander
Disabled American Veterans Dept., Indiana
Jackie Randolph
Commander
American Veterans (AMVETS), Indiana
Ron Martin
President
The Military/Veterans Coalition of Indiana
Zach McIlwain
Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), Indiana
Vickie Lincks
Kentucky-Indiana Paralyzed Veterans of America (KIPVA)