Okay, the shutdown’s over. Government officials are back to work, and VA benefits such as disability compensation and GI bill applications will continue to be processed. Crisis averted.
Well, kind of. During the shutdown, the appeals offices at all Regional Offices were shut down. So were the records departments. The progress made in creating a dent in the VA backlog also slipped considerably.
And did Congress really have to put our veterans and their families through the stress of not knowing whether they would receive their benefits in November?
When the government shutdown began at midnight on September 30, VA healthcare and medical facilities were protected because they already had their 2014 budget approved last year. But that was not the case for discretionary accounts, which include money for disability claims to veterans, their dependents or survivors, as well as money for veterans attending school on the GI Bill. Veterans waited with bated breath to see what the future held in store for these benefits, generally paid on the first of the month. October was covered, but November was up in the air. Payment of November benefits hinged on the ability of Congress to strike a deal before the end of October.
Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) say whether these benefits should be paid should not be a question. Like VA healthcare, other veterans benefits should be funded in advance. In a statement released on October 17th, the Veterans of Foreign Wars said it appreciates that Congress passed compromise legislation that reopened the government after two weeks, but the organization noted that the measure is short-term with no guarantee there will not be another shutdown.
VSOs and other veteran advocates are all backing identical House and Senate bills called the “Putting Veterans Funding First Act,” which would require Congress to pass a full year’s appropriations bill for all VA discretionary programs one year in advance. This means that in the event of a government shutdown, essential VA benefits are not affected. Rather than sending VA employees home on a paid vacation, their departments’ operations would continue functioning as normal.
This isn’t rocket science. This isn’t even good government. This is decent government. These are our veterans we’re dealing with here, the individuals who fought to protect the rights of a nation that is denying theirs. Treat our veterans with respect by protecting the benefits they’re entitled to.
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Access my previous blogs relating to the government shutdown here (10/1/2013) and here (10/10/2013).
