Proposal focuses on jobs, skills and better customer service

INDIANAPOLIS – Calling for a renewed commitment to those who have served in our nation’s military, today John Gregg, Democratic candidate for governor, released a proposal to improve state services for veterans.

According to recent reports, Indiana is ranked second to last in the nation for military retirees and 46th worst for veterans receiving the benefits they have earned. Between 2013 and 2014, Indiana saw a 65 percent increase in the number of veterans leaving the state.

“Indiana can and should be a more veteran-friendly state, and will be with new leadership that focuses on practical solutions and creative partnerships, not politics, ideology or empty rhetoric,” said Gregg, a former university president and Speaker of the Indiana House. “Hoosier veterans are motivated, hardworking and bring unique skills to our state. Indiana needs to do all it can to better engage them in our economy and assist in getting them the benefits they have earned.”

The Gregg/Hale Veterans Services Plan will be implemented by re-prioritizing Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs spending and eliminating duplicative services, all done without raising taxes. The proposal includes:

•    Streamlining Job Placement Assistance Services. Governor Gregg will order a comprehensive review of the state’s job placement services for veterans to eliminate duplication and confusion and will create new partnerships with the state’s colleges and universities to develop short-term skills programs that result in transferable skills, credentials and certifications.

•    Implementing a Statewide Marketing and Outreach Campaign. As proposed in a 2014 internal Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs evaluation, a Gregg/Hale administration will develop a statewide marketing campaign to educate veterans on the various benefits they are eligible for and how to access them.

•    Adding Veteran Service Officers. In order to leverage more federal benefits and assist more Hoosier veterans, a Gregg/Hale administration will create state level service officers and add women veteran service officers, offer evening and weekend office hours to more easily accommodate the needs of Hoosier veterans and better coordinate with veterans’ service organizations that are already providing assistance. Increasing the amount of federal benefits Hoosier veterans receive by just 10 percent a year, or $853 million, would generate approximately $17 million more in tax dollars.

•    Attracting More Service Members and Veterans to Indiana. Active duty service members are discharged at installations across the country, including in the Midwest, at a rate of more than 1,000 per month. As governor, Gregg will ask his lieutenant governor, Christina Hale, to lead a working group made of various veteran organizations and other stakeholders from the business, civic and philanthropic communities to develop policy and programs to market Indiana to discharged veterans and their families as their next home – helping to fill Indiana’s projected shortage of skilled workers.

•    Increasing Advocacy on Behalf of Hoosier Veterans.  In addition to advocating for more veteran benefits, Governor Gregg will direct the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs to seek more federal funding to better support Hoosier veterans and their families and assist federal agencies wherever possible to improve services and reduce wait times.

“John Gregg and I are committed to making immediate and necessary improvements to support Hoosier veterans, their families and their futures,” said State Representative Christina Hale, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor. “They have served us and now we have the opportunity to do a better job of serving them – and it’s a responsibility we will meet.”

To read the entire plan click here, or visit: http://www.greggforgovernor.com/issues/fighting-for-veterans/

John Gregg has worked throughout the public and private sector. He served as President of Vincennes University, Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, worked for two Fortune 500 companies and is a practicing attorney today. Gregg holds an associate’s degree from Vincennes University, a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, a master’s degree from Indiana State University and a law degree from Indiana University. He and his wife, Lisa, have three adult children and live in Sandborn in Knox County.