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	"version": "1.0",
	"provider_name": "Action Network",
	"provider_url": "https://actionnetwork.org",
	
	"html": "<link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/the-peoples-budget-strengthens-our-commitment-to-veterans?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-the-peoples-budget-strengthens-our-commitment-to-veterans' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div>",
	"author_name": "People Demanding Action",
	"author_url": "https://actionnetwork.org/groups/pdaction",
	"title": "The People&#x27;s Budget Strengthens Our Commitment to Veterans",
	"thumbnail_url": "https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/share_options/facebook_images/000/076/670/original/Logo-Square.png",
	"description": "Not one penny for millionaires, billionaires and wealthy corporations who profit from making war yet refuse to honor the men and women veterans of those wars with health care, education and housing. The People’s Budget recognizes the tremendous sacrifices veterans have made on behalf of our country and upholds our commitment to ensuring veterans receive the pay and benefits they have earned. Guaranteeing veterans are able to access health care and job training services in a timely manner is imperative to transitioning back into civilian life. The CPC Budget also continues investments the previous Administration made to end veteran homelessness, a vital component to meeting our country’s promise to our veterans. Advanced Funding for VA Health Programs — The People’s Budget increases overall funding to meet levels recommended by the Independent Budget authored by AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Paralyzed Veterans of America (Paralyzed Veterans), and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). The People’s Budget provides stability to veterans through advanced funding for discretionary VA programs to make sure veterans receive their benefits and health care even when Congress cannot reach agreement on funding. Eliminating Veterans Homelessness — This budget provides significant investments to continue working towards ending veterans’ homelessness by expanding the HUD-VASH program and Supportive Services for Veterans Families. The CPC Budget supports the VA’s use of public/private partnerships to provide pro bono legal services to homeless veterans and veterans at risk of homelessness. Increases Access to Mental Health Care for All Veterans and Service Members — America’s veterans deserve nothing less than timely, high quality health care. The People’s Budget fully funds efforts to ensure accessible delivery of appropriate, qualified health care by increasing the VA health care workforce, expanding veteran mental health care services, and intensifying VA suicide prevention services outreach. The budget provides increased funding for initiatives such as the Clay Hunt Veteran’s Suicide Prevent Act, reducing limits on inpatient access to psychiatric care and ensuring a greater number of our veterans can receive addiction treatment. Eliminating the Claims Backlog — The People’s Budget fully funds efforts to eliminate the disability claims backlog by implementing reforms, additional staffing, and IT system updates. With over 460,000 appeals for veterans’ disability benefits pending it is critical the VA make necessary changes to provide veterans timely and accurate decisions. Invests in Job Training and Transition Programs for Service Members Returning to Civilian Life — The CPC Budget includes robust funding for the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Training (VET) program to provide support for Veteran-owned small businesses. As the veterans’ unemployment rate continues to decline The People’s Budget invests in the Departments of Labor and Veteran’s Affairs employment and retraining programs to give service members the ability to translate their military experience into civilian careers. This will also connect veterans to meaningful career opportunities by providing access to job training, recruitment, and other services. Cost of Living Increase for Veteran Retirees — The People’s Budget uses the Experimental Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) to calculate Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) for federal retirement programs other than Social Security, which includes veterans’ pensions and compensations and military retirement. CPI-E is the most sensible and accurate measure of the real costs that seniors face in retirement. Current underpricing of costs amounts to cutting benefits for those on fixed incomes. Rebuilding Veteran’s Health Facilities — Across the country more than 1,800 Veterans Affairs facilities serve veterans who have put their lives on the line to defend our country. However, as we have too often seen in recent years, many of the facilities designed to serve them are in a state of disrepair – it is estimated that the average age of Veterans Health Administration buildings is 52 years old. In comparison, the average age of a not-for-profit hospital is 10.5 years. The People’s Budget invests $30 billion to help fix those facilities most in need.",
	"url": "https://actionnetwork.org/letters/the-peoples-budget-strengthens-our-commitment-to-veterans"
}