Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney (R,C-New Hartford) condemned Assembly Democrats following a Committee on Veterans’ Affairs meeting where 16 veterans’ aid bills were prevented from reaching the floor for a vote. Each of the bills would have provided increased financial and medical aid to veterans.
“Sadly, the Democrats have again chosen to place politics over increased care for our nation’s veterans,” said Tenney. “While the Democrats seem quite ambitious fighting for taxpayer-funded tuition for illegal aliens, increasing taxes on small businesses and family farms, and avoiding passage of ethics reforms, they take no steps to protect those who have sacrificed for our nation. It is unacceptable that they would rather use their majority power to play games with the future of our state’s veterans than to do what’s right.
“Our veterans sacrificed to defend our freedoms as Americans and we need to ensure that our senior veterans, as well as those returning home, have access to essential resources to ensure their well-being. New York is home to more than 892,000 veterans, the second-most in the country, and we owe them an enormous debt of gratitude. As a Marine mom, I understand the sacrifices our veterans have made, and I am compelled to stand up for them,” Tenney said.
Tenney sponsors four bills that were stalled in the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs:
- A.3784 – clarifies that the War on Terror and the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan count as wartime service for the Alternative Real Property Tax Exemption.
- A.3827 – designates as tax exempt rental income generated from real property owned by a tax-exempt veterans’ organization or benevolent order, even when the entity renting the space was not tax exempt.
- A.3907 – directs the state Division of Veterans’ Affairs to create a centralized database, to be known as the veterans’ clearinghouse, to identify veterans residing in the state and the state or federal benefits received by or available to those veterans.
- A.4032 – designates the Vietnam Veterans of America and the Veterans of Modern Warfare as state-recognized veterans’ benevolent orders. Extends the same beneficial treatment afforded under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law for issuing liquor licenses to such benevolent orders to these two organizations.
Other bills being held include the Veteran Owned Business Enterprise Act, A.3127, which would allow veterans of the Armed Forces to be eligible for the Veterans’ Real Property Tax Exemption, various military decoration awards, and various tax credit and exemption bills for veterans.