Lawmakers speak up for veterans

Columbia-Greene Media

ALBANY — Area lawmakers pleaded outside the state Assembly chambers Tuesday for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to restore more than $5.6 million in planned cuts to veterans services as part of the 2020-21 executive budget.

About $5.68 million that funds veterans programs across the state are on the chopping block in next year’s spending plan, including money to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America, American Legion, Helmet to Hardhats and several others. The affected programs provide services that help vets transition into careers, build professional skills, legal assistance and support, apply for benefits, veterans in the LGBTQ community and more.

Columbia County representatives Assemblyman Jake Ashby, R-107, and state Sen. Daphne Jordan, R-43, led a Voices for Veterans press conference at the state Capitol on Tuesday afternoon to pressure officials to reverse the proposed cuts, which would impact thousands of servicemen and women.

“Our veterans and their families have sacrificed so much to serve and protect our great nation,” said Ashby, who serves as the ranking Republican member on the Assembly’s Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “Each year, the governor tries to chip away at funding for veterans — funding that provides mental health services and critical help with the transition to civilian life. We won’t let him get away with it. New York must restore its support and commitment to veterans now.”

The Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer-to-Peer Program, which mentors veterans with trained peers who have served in combat, is facing the largest proposed cut at $4.04 million. Columbia County’s program will lose $100,000 and Jefferson County stands to lose $185,000 under the proposed slash, according to the Assembly Minority Conference.

Veterans shouldn’t have to fight to save programs in the state’s budget each year, Jordan said.

“They’ve already done battle for us,” the senator said. “There’s a saying: ‘We don’t know them all, but we owe them all’... Oftentimes, veterans don’t want to speak to just anybody. They want to speak with someone who understands. It’s really the counseling with a peer that helps so much.”

Assemblywoman Didi Barrett, D-106, recently sent a letter to legislative leaders with other Assembly members requesting the state double its Dwyer funding to $8 million.

The planned cuts to veterans services cuts in Cuomo’s budget are disappointing, Barrett said.

“There is an adage in the world of public policy that ‘budgets are moral documents’ — it means that what we choose to spend our money on is an expression of our values and priorities,” said Barrett, who chairs the Assembly’s Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “...[The] Dwyer funding supports essential peer-to-peer contact for veterans, helping them reintegrate into the community and connecting them to other key services including mental health, education, housing and employment... Securing restoration and expansion of these critical funding streams is my No. 1 priority during the remainder of the budget process.”

Columbia County Director of Veterans Services Gary Flaherty, a U.S. Army command sergeant major and Vietnam veteran, spoke at the conference surrounded by a group of fellow veterans.

“This should be a program that we don’t have to ask for every year,” Flaherty, 75, said, adding the peer program has been instrumental in serving Twin County veterans.

Columbia County Veterans Services offers retreats and partners with facilities like Philmont horse ranch High & Mighty Therapeutic Riding and Driving Center as part of the area’s Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer-to-Peer Program, Flaherty said.

Soon, local veterans will also have the PFC Dwyer Day Room — a physical space veterans can gather, socialize, play pool, use the computer, participate in training or other events. Flaherty said program representatives have worked with Ashby, Jordan and the county to transform a former Girl Scouts camp between Chatham and Valatie into the program’s new brick-and-mortar location, which is set to open by the end of next month.

“It worked for me more than 15 years of counseling or medication for PTSD,” Flaherty said of peer mentoring. “My peers ... and I are very careful for who we select as a mentor. All of them have military experiences that are critical when you meet up with a new veteran.

“Veterans take care of me. It’s my turn to take care of them.”