Last week we reached Crossover, the mid-point of the 2012 Session of the General Assembly.  Each Chamber has now completed work on legislation that originated in that Chamber prior to Crossover. The House will now take up Senate bills and vice versa while work continues on the final budget. Since most of the bills have [...]

In my first update I closed by stating that that this session was off to a fast start and true to form last week was a very successful week for veterans’ legislation. On Monday, January 23, 2012, I hosted the annual MOAA “Storming the Hill” here in the General Assembly. It was an extremely successful [...]

~Measures will ensure in-state tuition for all members of the Virginia National Guard; improve delivery of benefits; address veteran homelessness~ RICHMOND – In an address to the Joint Leadership Council of Veterans Service Organizations, and joined by veteran and Virginia National Guard leaders, Governor Bob McDonnell announced today legislative and administrative initiatives to continue his [...]

As we close out the year, I want to pass on to you an excellent year end summary of Veterans issues and status reports from many Veteran Service Organizations and government agencies compiled by Frank Wickersham III. Frank has served as the President of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and President of the [...]

I hope that this update finds you and your family doing well and surviving the heat wave we have been experiencing the past two weeks. It has been a while since I provided you with an update on veterans’ issues, so I want to take this opportunity to bring you up to date on several [...]

I wanted to give you a quick update on our initiative to inform our deployed military personnel about the upcoming elections because there has been a lot of activity since my email on June 30th. Governor McDonnell responded positively to the letter that Speaker Howell and I sent to him recommending several initiatives to ensure [...]

On June 20th, Speaker Howell and I sent a letter to the Governor recognizing him for his efforts in support of our military personnel, veterans and their families, and his goal of making Virginia the most veteran/service member friendly state in the nation. We also expressed our concern about absentee voting for military personnel in [...]

~ Recently Created Secretariat Brings Spotlight to Virginia’s Veterans, Military and Military Families While Continuing to Oversee the Commonwealth’s Homeland Security and All-Hazards Preparedness Efforts ~ RICHMOND – Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security Terrie L. Suit, herself a 9-year veteran of the House of Delegates before joining the McDonnell administration in 2010, announced [...]

As we approach Memorial Day, I wanted to be sure that all the veterans and active-duty service members saw this important announcement from Governor McDonnell detailing the special access for veterans and active-duty service members to Virginia’s parks and recreation areas. I am pleased to see this small token of thanks from Virginia for our [...]

I understand that many are experiencing problems with local revenue offices and others still have questions regarding the real estate tax exemption for veterans with a 100% service connected disability. To be sure you have the latest information on the tax exemption, I would like to share with you with the latest update from the [...]