Illinois vets targeted in legislation
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Printable FormatNEWSDAY (AP)
WASHINGTON -- Veterans in Illinois and five other states must be told about how to qualify for disability benefits as part of a measure passed Friday by Congress and headed to President Bush for his expected signature.
It targets Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, Indiana and Connecticut _ six states where veterans on average receive the lowest annual disability payments in the nation.
Illinois Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama were among the sponsors of the measure, which was part of a military construction and veterans appropriations bill.
It requires the Veterans Affairs Department to tell veterans living in those six states about how to request a review of past claims and how to submit new ones.
"When the VA makes a mistake, they have an obligation to correct it," Obama said. "Veterans in Illinois have been shortchanged by the VA for decades simply because of where they live. This legislation is an important step toward righting that wrong by notifying veterans that they may not have received the benefits that they earned, and explaining to them their right to request a review of their claims."
The average disability payment in those six states is less than $7,300 a year. Nationwide, the average payment last year was $8,378 per veteran; Illinois' figure was the lowest, at $6,961, according to the government.