Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll expressed concern about the Trump Administration's initiative to reorganize the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Driscoll was in Springfield Friday for a Springfield Regional Chamber conference. Speaking to NEPM after the event she highlighted the imminent completion of the Veterans Home in Holyoke and said Massachusetts leads the country in advocating for and protecting veterans and their benefits.
“We're a state that has invested mightily in our veterans,” Driscoll said. “The Hero Act, which was passed last session, ensured that we were providing more benefits for veterans in Massachusetts.”
Signed by Gov. Maura Healey last August, the Hero Act aims to increase accessibility to veterans benefits by updating the definition of “veteran” and expanding services including behavioral health treatments and supporting businesses that hire veterans. Driscoll said watching the federal government making cuts to VA services is heartbreaking
“Everyone should be concerned about cuts at the VA,” Driscoll said. “These are folks who dedicated their lives to our country. At least we can do is provide reasonable benefits and not be cutting back and scaling back in those areas.”
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has instructed top-level Department of Veterans Affairs staff to prepare for an agency-wide “reorganization” in August, according to an internal memo obtained by AP. The memo suggests 80,000 personnel cuts to facilitate this transition.
“[Nearly] 30% of the federal workforce is made up of veterans,” said Springfield U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield. “I don't think that we should be talking about cutting back on veterans services. The PACT Act is a stellar piece of legislation. It's going to improve the quality of life for many of our veterans, and I hope that we adhere to the promise that we made to them when they signed up.”
The PACT Act, which was signed into law by former President Joe Biden in August 2022, expanded VA health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances. Now, Neal says, it is time for the federal government to uphold the promises they have made to veterans.
Recently he posted on social media, an image of the Springfield Vet Center, which now has a note n the front door announcing it no longer has a staff member to greet veterans in the lobby, a change they attribute to "an abrupt and unplanned staff shorting."
"We need to acknowledge the service that they [veterans] rendered onto America, and we need to stick with the promises we made to them. And that does not include cutting 80,000 positions in an arbitrary manner that clearly has not been thought through."
