Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin is touting a plan to assist Virginia military veterans make the transition to civilian life once their time serving their country is done.
“Today I’m releasing a series of policy proposals to honor the sacrifice of our military veterans, and to make this Commonwealth the best place for our military heroes to pursue the next chapter of their lives,” Youngkin said Thursday at an event in Virginia Beach.
“These policies are rooted in my commitment to compete with neighboring states when it comes to veterans benefits and tax treatment, to connect veterans more seamlessly to the many services that they have access to, to create paths for careers worthy of their skills in all fields, but especially in those fields like law enforcement, teaching, and healthcare, where their leadership and training can benefit so many Virginians including our children. So, we must take certain steps to compete. We have to compete in order to keep our great veterans here, to stay and work and retire in Virginia.”
“We can reimagine the way we provide services so that they are easier to access. And we can eliminate bureaucratic impediments to careers, that fit your skillset and make the transition to civilian life so much easier. And we will do all of this to make Virginia the best place for service personnel looking to write the next chapter of their lives,” Youngkin said.
Details
- Accelerate processing by waiving administrative fees for permits and applications for small business start-ups for qualifying veterans. This will reduce barriers to entrepreneurship and allow more to enter the marketplace.
- Eliminate tax on military retirement pay.
- Expand the existing Child Care Subsidy Program, this will allow active-duty primary caregivers to apply for the program prior to separation and ensure there is no gap in childcare coverage in the first 90 days after transition.
- Ensure veterans are receiving the benefits they’ve earned by increasing the number of Veteran Service Officers.
- Develop a gold-standard digital hub to streamline access and foster collaboration across agencies, sectors, and businesses.
- Critical positions will be filled at the Virginia Department of Veterans Services while unnecessary positions will be eliminated to free-up dollars and resources.
- Eliminate bureaucracy and successfully migrate qualified veterans to opportunities in law enforcement, teaching, and healthcare careers by reducing bureaucratic burden and creating bridge programs.
- Establish an equivalence of Training for military police and law enforcement, build on the existing Military Medics and Corpsman Program, and develop an approved RN program that allows military medics to enter the program as second semester students.
- Foster private-public partnerships with organizations that prioritize and provide peer and mentorship-related programs for transitioning veterans.
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