washingtonscene
positively encourage use of the lower-cost mail-order pharmacy and development of a joint-service medical system.
Nebraska Supports
N
that could make New York the next state to formally join the compact. MOAA encourages members who vote
in New York and Georgia to contact their state legislators and ask for their support of these bills.
Military Kids 37th state joins compact.
ebraska is the 37th state to enact legislation to formally join the Inter- state Compact on Educational Op-
portunity for Military Children. On average, military children attend six to nine different school systems from kindergarten through high school. Moving between states can cause problems with transferring credits and other activities and can even put high school graduation at risk in some cases. States participating in the compact agree to a comprehensive approach to student- friendly resolution of issues with class placement, records transfer, course cred- its, graduation requirements, exit testing, extra-curricular opportunities, and more. MOAA councils and chapters have
taken leading roles in winning the neces- sary legislation in many states. In Nebras- ka, the Heartland of America Chapter lobbied state legislators to join the com- pact for the approximately 8,000 military children there. As this article was being written, 13
states had not yet joined the compact, including New York and Georgia, both with high populations of military school- aged children. Unfortunately for the 40,000 military
children in Georgia, both the Assembly and Senate bills (H.B. 219 and S.B. 219) failed to pass this year. In New York’s state legislature, there are two active bills (A. 2141 and S. 2538)
DoD/VA Spending Bill
Advances Subcommittee approves advance VA funding.
T
he House Military Construc- tion and VA Appropriations subcommittee approved funding
legislation in May for the FY 2012 military construction and VA programs. Highlights include:
• Military construction. The bill provides $14 billion for military construction proj- ects and fully funds the administration’s request for military family housing con- struction at $376 million. The housing money will provide 48 new family housing construction projects and 80 replacement projects and upgrade 216 family housing units. The bill reduces the overall spend- ing package by $2.6 billion compared to FY 2011 through lower-than-expected construction costs and savings realized from the base realignment and closure process, which wraps up this September. • Veterans’ Affairs. The legislation includes $127.8 billion for veterans’ health care fund- ing and VA compensation and benefits programs, including disability compensa- tion, pension, survivor benefits, vocational rehabilitation, and GI bill education and mortgage programs. But it would cut $476 million from VA administration, informa- tion technology, and construction accounts. • VA advance appropriations for FY 2013.
*online: Visit
http://assembly.state.ny.us or
www.legis.ga.gov for New York and Georgia legislator and bill information. 38 MILITARY OFFICER JULY 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84