Five initiatives supporting veterans of all walks of life are included in the state’s $56 billion fiscal year 2024 budget that Gov. Maura Healey signed into law on Wednesday.

The budget includes around $1.7 million for programs championed by state Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, that will support women veterans, LGBTQ service members, veterans with disabilities, Vietnam veterans and veterans with trauma.

“We can’t be known as a commonwealth and we can’t be known as a nation that values some service more than others,” said Velis, who serves as Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs. “This was a very robust budget in terms of what we were able to do for veterans.”

LGBTQ service members

One initiative expands eligibility for the “Welcome Home” bonus to LGBTQ veterans who were dishonorably discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the federal policy that prevented service members from being openly LGBTQ between 1994 and 2011.

Last session, Velis introduced an amendment that gave veterans who were discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” state benefits that other veterans already receive, including housing, food aid and tuition assistance, among other items.

But that amendment did not include benefits under the Treasury Department. With that in mind, this session’s initiative acknowledges the “Welcome Home” bonus, offered by the state treasurer, as a benefit for dishonorably discharged veterans.

“It’s kind of like closing the door and just dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s,” he said.

The bonus is for those who served after Sept. 1, 2001, and amounts to between $500 and $1,000, depending on the location served.

Women Veterans Study

In another follow-up to the previous legislative session, Velis proposed $200,000 for implementing the recommendations included in last session’s Women Veterans Study.

“I’ve long understood that women veterans in so many different ways were treated differently from men veterans,” Velis said.

According to the American Legion, women are the fastest growing demographic to serve in the United States military. At the same time, the Women Veterans’ Network was only able to identify around 6% of women veterans living in Massachusetts between July 2019 and June 2021.

“We doubt, based on the data and other material provided, that most women veterans are aware of all the resources available to them” through the Department of Veterans’ Services, reads a Women Veterans’ Network statement from September 2022.

In an effort to meet the needs of women veterans, the Women Veterans Study provided recommendations to expand outreach and identify women veterans so they can receive their earned benefits.

Those recommendations, which Velis’ initiative aims to implement, include hiring additional staff for an outreach program, centralizing administrative services and expanding transitional supports.

“If you are a service member and you are a woman … I’m pretty sure a roadside bomb or an artillery shell will hurt you and potentially kill you as much as any male veteran,” Velis said. “And if that’s true, and I know it is, everybody should be treated the same in terms of the benefits, so it’s about correcting some historical injustice.”

Home Base program

Another initiative on the budget puts $500,000 toward the Home Base Program, which would help expand trauma services in western Massachusetts.

Home Base, a program out of Massachusetts General Hospital, researches new treatment options, provides intensive clinical programs, and works on suicide prevention efforts for veterans, active service members and families of service members. The $500,000 would allow Home Base to expand veteran trauma services across the region and train mental health practitioners, Velis said.

Disabled veterans counseling

The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Massachusetts Service Fund Inc. provides counseling and benefits assistance to veterans with disabilities, work that will receive $914,000 in support through the budget.

“Veterans throughout Massachusetts, they feel overwhelmed with paperwork that’s involved. … One of the groups that steps in and really does a lot of that for veterans is the DAV,” Velis said.

“This just allows the DAV to spread their services a little bit wider,” he added.

Vietnam veterans

The final initiative would give $100,000 to Vietnam Veterans of Massachusetts Inc. to help Vietnam veterans file claims for medical and financial veterans.

“I’ve got a very soft spot in my heart for the Vietnam vets ... just the way they were treated versus the way I was treated upon my return from Afghanistan,” Velis explained. “In many instances, they had beer bottles thrown at them. I had people offering to buy me beers.

“This is just to allow another group to do what they’re already doing,” he added, “but to increase that volume and spread their wings a little bit further to help more veterans.”

Maddie Fabian can be reached at mfabian@gazettenet.com or on Twitter @MaddieFabian.

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