Bullock for President
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 11, 2019

On WMUR, Governor Bullock Rolls Out “Fair Shot for Veterans” Policy

Helena, MT – Montana Governor Steve Bullock today joined WMUR’s John DiStaso to roll out his Fair Shot for Veterans policy, a comprehensive plan to reform and improve the way we ensure every veteran gets a fair shot to get ahead. The plan ensures that our veterans have access to the healthcare, benefits, and economic opportunity that they deserve. 

“Ensuring that each of our veterans can successfully transition and thrive is the very least we can do for those who risk everything for our country. This plan puts forward serious, achievable solutions to the challenges our veterans face every day when they return home,” said Montana Governor Steve Bullock. “From ensuring access to quality healthcare and prioritizing mental health treatment to promoting economic opportunity, my plan reflects our serious commitment to those who have worn our nation’s uniform.

Read the full plan here.

Highlights from Fair Shot for Our Veterans:

Veteran Healthcare and Wellbeing
  • Shorten wait times and increase funding for veterans health, especially mental health.
  • Automatically enroll retiring servicemembers in TRICARE if not eligible for VA care.
  • Fully fund the VA and create new loan forgiveness plans to ensure there are enough doctors, nurses, and support staff to meet our veterans’ needs.
  • Ensure veterans can access healthcare by planning future VA Medical Centers and other facility investments around veterans’ changing demographics and locations.
Prevent Veteran Suicide
  • Increase funding for the VA’s Executive Director for Suicide Prevention office to enable them to provide more adequete support. Direct the VA and DoD to conduct studies to understand and address the root causes of the higher suicide rate.
  • Break-down barriers to mental health care that still exist in the military and hold top generals accountable for progress.
Economic and Educational Support
  • End the “widows tax” which creates unnecessary hardship on families as they are grieving for their loved ones who died protecting our country.
  • Reverse the high taxes levied on the benefits given by the Defense Department to children of deceased service members.
  • Direct federal agencies to increase the number of contract set-asides for veterans and increase funding available for veterans looking to start small businesses.
  • Increase funding to counter and eliminate veteran homelessness, including support for rapid rehousing programs and establishing Veteran Treatment Courts.
  • Make it easier to transfer credentials, so that skills learned in the military can easily be translated into civilian life qualifications.
  • Work with employers to identify the skills they need for certain positions and which corresponding military roles match that skill requirement.
  • Hold accountable the for-profit education institutions who defraud veterans.
  • Ensure that skills earned in the military can be used for credits at education institutions
  • Streamline professional licensing process for spouses who move to another state.
Standing With All Veterans
  • Expand telehealth and tele-mental-health initiatives, work with local healthcare providers to enable veterans to receive care in their local communities, and expand the Rural Veterans Outreach program nationally.
  • Although women are 20% of active duty personnel, existing policies often do not reflect their needs. We’ll develop more gender-specific care guidelines to ensure women can access the care they need, such as breast cancer screening, and ensure female veterans have proper PTSD support, especially when resulting from sexual trauma.
  • Veterans from diverse backgrounds sometimes require additional support to maximize the benefits they’ve earned. Governor Bullock will improve communication to veterans from diverse backgrounds and increase the number of tribal veteran service officers.
 
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