Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Veterans Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Disabled American Veterans ask El Paso advisory committee to back state reimbursement to counties
Summary
Dave Garcia of the Disabled American Veterans asked the Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on May 15 to ask El Paso City to send a letter supporting the state comptroller's $50,000,000 reimbursement request for nine counties, saying the funding affects thousands of local veterans.
Dave Garcia, Benefits Protection Team Leader for the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), urged the Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on May 15 to ask El Paso City to send a letter supporting the state comptroller's $50,000,000 budget request that would reimburse nine counties for veteran-related costs.
"If the county can do it, so can the city," Garcia said during the committee's public-comment period. "If we are representing the 58,000 plus veterans here in El Paso ... this is the first step that we show strength through unity." He said he wrote a letter on behalf of more than 55,000 DAV members and nonmembers and that county commissioners had already approved a supporting letter.
Garcia told the committee the funding shortfall—he said the comptroller's request is for $50,000,000—would affect local veterans and asked the city to submit supporting letters to Senator Blanco and to "that senator Schwarzenegger," the names he provided at the meeting.
Committee leadership did not take formal action during the public-comment period. The committee chair said members could either request the item be placed on the next committee agenda, call a special meeting to consider a formal letter, or discuss the request individually with members before bringing it back to the group. No vote was recorded on whether the city would send a letter at this meeting.
The DAV's request and the committee's next procedural steps will determine whether the advisory body forwards a recommendation to city council. Garcia said he had circulated supporting documents that committee members would find in the meeting packet.
The committee's clerk and staff were asked by Garcia to coordinate with county attorneys and with DAV counsel to ensure the letter matched the county's approved language.
Ending
Garcia concluded his remarks by repeating his request that the city act in support of the reimbursement request and by noting that allied local groups had already sent letters of support. The committee did not set a hearing date on the matter during the May 15 meeting.
