Legislators hear vets' concerns
Alamogordo Daily News
By Laura London, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/10/2009
The Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee, an interim committee of the state Legislature, met in Alamogordo Tuesday to discuss military and veterans' issues and hear briefings from area military commanders.
The committee met at the Sgt. Willie Estrada Memorial Civic Center on Tuesday, and also met Monday in Las Cruces. The two days and locations encompassed one meeting of the committee.
Otero County has two representatives on the committee Rep. Nate Coté, D-Dist. 53, committee member, and Sen. Dianna Duran, R-Dist. 40, adviser on the committee. Rep. Gloria Vaughn, R-Dist. 51, is not on the committee, but attended the Tuesday meeting.
Coté explained gathering information for drafting legislation is what legislators do during the summer. He mentioned that in Las Cruces the committee heard about homeless veterans issues and a possible loss of capital outlay money to address veterans' transition. He said the two-day meeting was extremely productive and informative.
"Every day I go to committee meetings is like going to school," Coté said.
Duran said during the committee's next meeting Nov. 30, they will discuss legislation to propose at the next legislative session regarding issues that can be addressed at the state level.
Duran explained that since veterans and military issues fall mostly under federal guidelines, the committee's motions often involve writing letters to the congressional delegation in Washington.
The committee made such a motion Tuesday after hearing from Alamogordo resident Diane Monroe, a retired master sergeant who served 17 years in the Air Force. During the public comment portion of the meeting, Monroe asked the committee to look into making education benefits good for the lifetime of the service member rather than just 10 years after retirement. She said she has been retired from the Air Force for 12 years.
Monroe said she needs to go back to school to stay gainfully employed, which she would do if she could afford it. She said she has taken some vocational technical classes in El Paso, which she paid for out of her own pocket. She explained she is a contract worker at Holloman Air Force Base, and contract situations vary from year to year.
"Every August, I have butterflies in my stomach waiting to see if I'm going to have a job the next year," Monroe said.
Monroe said she is on the final term of her contract. She said she needs to go back to school to be able to compete with the younger people in the work force.
Monroe said there is education money waiting to be used that others are not using, yet she can no longer get access to educational benefits. She said she has several friends in a similar situation.
Coté told Monroe that in addition to the committee, staff members from Sen. Jeff Bingaman's office, as well as Rep. Harry Teague's office, were present and heard her testimony.
Rep. Thomas Garcia, D-Dist. 68, co-chairman of the committee, noted the GI Bill is a federal benefits plan and recommended drafting a letter to the congressional delegation. He said perhaps the state could also work through higher education to offer some kind of program for retired military people in Monroe's situation.
Before the public comment period, the committee heard briefings from Col. Jeff Harrigian, 49th Fighter Wing commander at Holloman Air Force Base; Col. Tim Curry, commander of the 46th Test Group at Holloman; and Col. Christine Sautter from the Fort Bliss Soldier Readiness Center, who talked about troop deployment and medical screening.
Coté said the briefings served to help committee members understand the importance of the local military and their mission.
More information about this and other committees can be found on the New Mexico Legislature's Web site, www.nmlegis.gov, under the "committees" link.
Contact Laura London at llondon@alamogordonews.com.
