LUPINACCI SUPPORTS NY VETERANS

Important Veterans bill has Chad Lupinacci concerned that the Governor continually veto’s it. Assemblymen Lupinacci states the following:

“For the past two years, Governor Andrew Cuomo has said ‘No’ to allowing veterans who work for the state the option to “buy back” pension time they would have been eligible for while serving in the military. The program would allow all veterans, regardless of when they served, to use time that was served in the military to count toward buying pension credit from the state. This bipartisan legislation passed by both houses has continually been vetoed once reaching the Governor’s desk. The Governor has gone on record with his disapproval stating ‘costs imposed were not accounted for in the state’s financial plan and the unfunded costs and expenses would impose a substantial burden on New York State taxpayers.’ To fix the issue, the Governor said the measure would be included in the budget. Despite attempts from both houses, the Governor again rejected this proposal by leaving it out of this year’s spending plan.

“I am in full support of the ‘Veterans Buyback Program.’ Our veterans should be compensated for time they spent serving in our military regardless of when it was. These men and women sacrificed precious years of their lives to safeguard this nation and it is our duty to ensure we repay in any way possible. The ‘Veterans Buyback Program’ is just another way we can do this. Both houses sought to enact this provision in this year’s State Budget, but the program was again left out by the Executive Branch. The issue no longer seems to be a fiscal one, but one that revolves around the Governor and his unwillingness to help our veterans.”

The Veterans Buyback Program (Assembly Bill 9531) is currently on the Assembly Agenda once again working its way through the Assembly Committee process before it comes up for a vote on the Assembly floor.