Barrar and Committee Pass Bill to Better Communicate with Veterans
HARRISBURG – The Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee and its chairman, Rep. Steve Barrar (R-Chester/Delaware), unanimously supported a bill that would share veterans’ information from state agencies with the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) for the purpose of providing information about state and federal benefits available to them.
Out of more than 884,000 veterans in the Commonwealth, only 7,000 are part of a “Veterans Registry” program to be administered by the DMVA. The vast majority are not able to receive information about benefits they can use as a result of the service they gave to our country.
With passage of the bill, veterans can be identified and have the option to be included in the Veterans Registry. Currently, many veterans believe that their information is already being shared after they indicate their service – on a driver’s license form at PennDOT, for example – but that is not the case.
The bill prohibits the sale of veterans’ information, and language will be added to the bill to prevent the information being subject to Right-to-Know requests.
Another piece of legislation that was approved at this week’s committee meeting would require the Department of Health to consider the education, experience and training veterans received during their military service when determining how qualified they are for licensure and certification.
As both bills received unanimous support in committee, they will now face a vote in the House.
To view footage of the House Veterans’ Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee’s meeting, click here.
Representative Stephen E. Barrar
160th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Alison Evans
717.260.6206
aevans@pahousegop.com
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