Committee advances bill to expand veteran‑service staff training on military sexual trauma
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Summary
Rep. Shusterman told the Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness committee that House Bill 2024 would add trauma‑informed care, military sexual trauma (MST), PTSD and traumatic brain injury to county veteran assistant directors’ training; the committee moved the bill unanimously to the floor.
Representative Shusterman asked the committee to support House Bill 2024, saying the measure would expand training for county veteran assistant directors to include trauma‑informed care, military sexual trauma (MST), post‑traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
Shusterman framed the bill as part of bipartisan efforts to support veterans, saying “With nearly 700,000 veterans living in our commonwealth, it's incredibly important that our legislative body continues our bipartisan work to honor and support our veterans.” He described MST as “an experience of sexual assault or sexual harassment that occurred during military service” and cited figures he said show “nearly 1 in 3 women and 1 in 50 men in the armed forces report having experienced sexual assault or sexual harassment during their military service.”
Chair Gillan asked why the statewide county veterans affairs association had taken a neutral position on the bill; Shusterman said he did not have insight into that neutrality and suggested there can be resistance whenever new training is proposed. The committee registered no negative votes and the bill moved unanimously to the floor for consideration.
The committee did not record individual vote tallies in the transcript; the clerk announced the measure advances unanimously. The legislation, as described in the hearing, would add MST and related trauma topics to existing training for county‑level veteran services staff.
