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Committee Hears Bills on Pension Equity for Veterans and Municipal Veterans Assistance Funds
Summary
Representative James Arena DeRosa testified on two bills: one proposing small pension increases for veterans affected by service-related mortality and disabilities, and another expanding permissible uses of municipal veterans assistance funds to include housing and legal expenses.
Representative James Arena DeRosa told the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs that two pieces of legislation before the panel would address different gaps in support for veterans.
"One of them is H.3822, an act to enhancing public service pension equity for veterans," DeRosa said, linking the proposal to health impacts veterans face after exposure to hazards such as burn pits. "I just think that we should think about whether or not we can give an extra year for all honorably discharged veterans on their state pension, and then two years if you had, discharged but disabled." DeRosa said the change would likely require more study but urged the committee to consider the measure.
DeRosa also described H.3823, a technical change to the municipal veterans assistance fund statute. "It's a fund where people make voluntary donations... to provide financial support to veterans and their dependents who have immediate needs around food, transportation, and heating expenses," he said. The bill would allow municipalities to use those funds for housing expenses and legal costs related to eviction, he said, and "there would be no cost to the Commonwealth for doing this."
DeRosa framed the pension proposal as preliminary and study-worthy; he repeatedly emphasized the committee might need additional data to evaluate life‑expectancy and mortality claims tied to Gulf War exposures. He called veteran housing needs a pressing local concern that municipal funds could help address if their allowable uses are broadened.
No committee vote occurred. Chairs and members asked for further fiscal and actuarial analysis of the pension proposal and requested staff to prepare statutory language for the municipal fund amendment to ensure municipalities retain appropriate controls over voluntary donations.
Both bills drew supportive comments from other members of the panel and veterans organizations that testified later in the hearing.
