As many of you know, I have the honor of serving on the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee. I am very proud of the service of our veterans, and believe we must do everything we can to honor their service and their sacrifices for our country and our state.
This session, we passed several new laws in support of veterans.
Military service can be dangerous, but threats should not come from our own troops. Unfortunately, we are learning more each day about sexual assault in the military. All our service members deserve to be as safe as possible when performing their duties, and I am proud of a resolution the Veterans Committee unanimously passed to ensure state laws are equal to federal laws in the investigation and prosecution of military sexual assault, and in the treatment for survivors. This resolution is the first step in making it safer for survivors to report sexual violence, and get the help and support they need during their recovery.
The transition from the military back to civilian life can be challenging, and we want to make it as smooth as possible. We passed two laws to assist service members in returning to their civilian lives. First, we passed a bill to ease the process for veterans, their spouses and active duty service members to qualify for professional licenses, like those for nursing or accounting. We also passed a law to allow active duty service members to keep marine licenses while on duty, which will speed their transition back to their work. A lobsterman who is serving his country shouldn’t have to worry that his professional license will expire while he is serving, leaving him without access to his livelihood upon his return to civilian life.
I know how important our hunting and fishing heritage is to Maine and our tourism industry, and I believe we should make it easier for veterans to obtain hunting and fishing licenses. I sponsored a bill allowing disabled veterans from New Hampshire and Vermont to receive free hunting, trapping and fishing licenses in Maine if their state has a similar arrangement for our veterans.
We passed a law requiring 2 percent of the profits from table games at the Bangor casino be used for the Coordinated Veterans Assistance Fund. This fund assists veterans’ service organizations with the transportation of veterans to medical appointments and outreach to homeless veterans.
Unfortunately, not all our efforts to support veterans were successful. Our most disappointing setback was the failure to provide health insurance for 2,700 veterans. These brave men and women would have received health insurance coverage had Maine accepted the federal government’s deal to expand health insurance for nearly 70,000 Maine people. Twice, we passed a bill to take this deal, and twice the governor vetoed it.
Ensuring that all Mainers, including our veterans, have access to the care they need when they need it remains a priority for us, and we will continue working toward that goal next session.
Until then, I welcome your thoughts on the past session, and your ideas for next year’s session. I hold office hours at my home, 176 Cottage St. in Sanford, every Sunday from 1-3 p.m. I hope to talk with you soon.
— State Sen. John Tuttle represents Senate District 3, which includes Alfred, Limington, Lyman, Sanford, Springvale and Waterboro. He is the Senate chairman of the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee and also serves on the Judiciary Committee. His column appears every third Monday of the month.
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