HD21 - Report of the Commission on Veterans' Affairs
Executive Summary: During its 1985 Session, the Virginia General Assembly passed House Bill No. 1359 (sponsored by Delegate Floyd C. Bagley of Prince William County, Chairman of the Commission), which was signed into law by Governor Robb as Chapter 571 of the 1985 Acts of Assembly. This brought one step nearer reality the creation of a state veterans' home and state veterans' cemetery by providing (i) that, when created, such facilities would be controlled and operated by the Division of War Veterans' Claims, and (ii) that the Commission on Veterans' Affairs should make recommendations on a site or sites for such facilities. (A copy of this legislation is included in this report as Appendix IV.) It is not surprising, then, that the creation of a state veterans' cemetery and a state veterans' home dominated the Commission's work in 1984-85 much as the need for a state veterans' cemetery dominated the Commission's work in 1981-82. (See House Document No. 10 of 1982.) However, many other needs and issues were brought to the Commission's attention during these two years, and the matters considered by the group were far-ranging. The Commission sought to discharge its statutory obligation to ascertain the needs of the veterans of Virginia by holding eight public hearing at various locations across the Commonwealth in the course of the biennium. In the course of these hearings, several hundred individual veterans, representatives of veterans' organizations, state and local governmental officials, and concerned citizens appeared before the Commission. Most notable among those testifying before the Commission was Mr. William G. Broaddus, Attorney General of Virginia. The Commission's staff also received considerable correspondence in support of suggestions made at the public hearings. The proposals and suggestions made in the hearings and through correspondence were compiled by the Commission's staff into thirty-three items, ranging from very broad-based expressions of the need for greater action by the Commonwealth on behalf of its veterans to specific, detailed proposals for legislative action by the General Assembly. After reviewing these items, the Commission concluded that very many veterans' needs continue to go unmet, and that some actions, omissions, and policies of the Commonwealth and its local governments are either derogatory to veterans or are detrimental to veterans' best interests. The Commission felt it prudent to postpone action on those matters of relatively lesser importance and concentrate, instead, on obtaining the General Assembly's approval of proposals which represent truly vital needs for Virginia's veterans. Chief among these vital needs is the creation of a state veterans' cemetery. Draft legislation to address urgent veteran needs, other than the creation of a state veterans' cemetery, is included in this report as Appendices I-III. House Bill No. 1359 had specifically directed the Commission to consider three potential sites for a state veterans' home and a state veterans' cemetery, one in Richmond city, one in Dinwiddie County, and one in Louisa County. The Commission considered all three of these sites and found all of them to be unsuitable for either purpose. The Commission considered, additionally, sites in Amelia County and Buckingham County as possible locations for state veterans' cemeteries, and the Commission recommends that the General Assembly appropriate sufficient funds to acquire the "Sharp Farm" property in Amelia County for use as Virginia's first state veterans' cemetery. The Commission also urges the General Assembly to appropriate to the Division of War Veterans' Claims sufficient funds to enable the Division to begin site selection and facility design work necessary to prepare for the creation of a state veterans' borne. |
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