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ETABO COMMITTEE REPORT
BY ALAN GIBSON, CHAIR
It’s that time of the year for taking care of administrivia.
However, it gives me the opportunity to report on the committee’s
Convention Resolutions.
As for E-1, Veterans Preference has
not had significant legislation, but the Office of Personnel
Management did issue new regulations which, if properly used,
will redress the problem of eligible preference. As of this
writing, we have not heard of any state actions.
With E-2,
dealing with job training and other services, there has not
been any accountability legislation introduced. This does
not come as a surprise, since the word “accountability” in
all federal agency matters seems to have been left out of
the dictionary. However, all committees continue to press
for accountability for the good of all Americans.
E-3, issues
dealing with veterans in business, seems to be one of the
areas in which the Task Force for Veterans Entrepreneurship
(VET-Force) has received much attention. There is a continued
effort by the group as a whole and the other VSOs to have
the laws (PL 106-50, the Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of
1999, and PL 108-83, the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003) and
the President’s Executive Order (EO 13-360) enforced.
I can report that Missouri has a couple of bills getting
that state to do at least 3 percent of agency contracts with
veteran and service-disabled veteran business owners. State
governments seem to follow the leadership of the federal
government: six to nine months is considered the speed of
light.
The comprehensive employment resource development program,
E-18, still needs lots of help. The VA budget that is being
proposed does call for additional funding for mental health.
We were able, with the help of the other VSOs, to have the
two-year window for Reserve and National Guard veterans to
get into the VA system extended to five years. The next step
is to have the five years extended to ten, or the time limit
eliminated completely.
The committee is represented on the
Department of Homeland Security’s Veterans Outreach
Advisory Council, with the mission of hiring more veterans.
E-4, “A
Meaningful Job at a Living Wage,” is
being worked on by various members.
As with the statement
on each Resolution, “subject
to the availability of funds,” most activities have
not had much accomplished. With budget constraints, none
of the guides has been published and the printing of the
business card to be given to returning troops has not been
printed, except in some states.
If any of you know about activities
in your state that deal with any of the committee’s
issues, please talk to somebody on our committee. All committees
need the entire organization to get involved in caring enough
to make a difference. Our committee appreciates the work
others have done without fanfare. It is understood that we
all do things without wanting any accolades, but we cannot
help each other and our brother and sister veterans if we
do not know what is being accomplished in other states.
Thanks
much for what you do for veterans and keep up the good work.
Committee
members: Alan Gibson, Chair; Lupe Alviar, Bob Caswell, Ric
Davidge, Wayne Gatewood, Calvin Gross, Bob Hesser, Joe Jennings,
Keith King, Bob Sharps, Jim Shott, Connie Steers; Special
Advisers: Judy Bolio, James Gilmer, Adrian Guglielmo, Patrick
Heavey, Pat Kerr, Joe Wynn; Staff Liaison: Rick Weidman.
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2008, Vietnam Veterans of America. All Rights Reserved. 8605 Cameron
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