Representatives from approximately 30 military and veterans organizations gathered at the state Capitol on Thursday to share their individual goals with lawmakers and help advance three legislative initiatives generated by a coalition of 18 of the groups.
This was the third year Secretary of State Mark Martin's office has planned a day for veterans service organizations to visit the Capitol. Martin said it's a way to connect the organizations so they can communicate more effectively with the state.
"Those relationships make it much easier to communicate their ideas," Martin said. "Otherwise, you have the din of angry emails and phone calls, and we don't really get to touch the people on what's really going on."
The Arkansas Veterans Coalition, which is made up of members of various military and veterans groups, has been working since November 2013 on initiatives to take to the Legislature this session. Will Beams, chairman of the coalition's legislative committee and chief of staff for Arkansas Veterans of Foreign Wars, passed out an overview of the issues to attendees Thursday morning.
As the event was ending, Rep. Charlene Fite, R-Van Buren, filed a bill based on one of the initiatives -- to eliminate state income taxes on veterans' retirement and survivor pay.
Fite and other advocates of House Bill 1412 said it would bring in skilled retiring service members to the workforce. Arkansas is losing military retirees to surrounding states that have some level of income-tax exemption, said retired Air Force Col. Don Berry, a member of the Arkansas Veterans Coalition.
"Right now, Arkansas is a bad island," Fite said. "We are next to last of the states in attracting this population. When they decide to stay in Arkansas now, they're taking a 7 percent pay cut. We want them to come to Arkansas by doing what so many other states have done and eliminate" retirement pay from being subject to state income taxes.
"They'd be likely to start a second career here, buy a home," she said.
Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, is also a primary sponsor of the bill, which has 31 co-sponsors. It was referred to the House Committee on Revenue and Taxation.
Another of the coalition's initiatives is creating statewide access to veterans treatment courts. The program is an extension of the drug-court system and mandates that arrested veterans have regular meetings with judges in addition to attending treatment sessions and undergoing random testing for drugs and alcohol.
Currently, Arkansas has veterans courts in three circuits: one serving Pulaski and Perry counties, one in Lonoke County, and one in Garland County.
The Arkansas Veterans Coalition is also lobbying for the state to increase education benefits for veterans.
The federal Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014, signed into law in August, will require public universities that want to continue receiving GI Bill benefits to offer in-state tuition to veterans by July 1. Veterans advocates want Arkansas schools to comply with that measure and extend it to vocational and trade schools and distance-learning programs.
Beams said both of those initiatives are being drafted into bills.
"All of these fit very closely together," he said. "To leave any one out would be like smiling with a tooth missing."
Thursday's event provided an opportunity to talk with lawmakers about the issues, Berry said.
"We're very much pumped," he said. "We've gotten some good feedback from legislators. We have the audience."
Metro on 02/20/2015