The first meeting of the Arizona Veterans Caucus for this legislative session was January 16. The Caucus is a bipartisan group of House and Senate members providing a voice at the Legislature on matters important to the men and women, who have served, and their families.
The Caucus is co-chaired by Rep. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa and Rep. Jonathan Larkin, D-Glendale.
More than 500,000 men and women with prior military service reside in Arizona. These Arizonans face unique challenges when it comes to furthering their education, finding a job and securing housing that their civilian counterparts typically do not. In recognition of these challenges, the Speaker of the House Andy Tobin gladly approved the continuation of the Arizona Veterans Caucus for 2014.
In 2014, the caucus plans to sponsor a number of bills. One bill the caucus is working on provides veterans and their children scholarship money for furthering their education – the Military Children and Veteran Empowerment Scholarships. The caucus is also working on a bill to assist Navajo veterans with affordable housing. In addition, members of the caucus are promoting a GI benefits omnibus bill to provide grant money for veterans to attend school and purchase a home. Finally, caucus members are considering a bill to provide two tiers of state income tax incentives to companies that hire veterans, with the larger incentive going to firms that hire a disabled veteran.
Last year, the Arizona Veterans Caucus was successful in passing the military applicants bill into law. House Bill 2076 streamlined the application process for a veteran to obtain a license needed to work in the medical and transportation industries.