Governor Christie Whitman Honors Our Veterans

	MILITARY & VETERANS AFFAIRS NEWS RELEASE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: Natasha Zoe 101 EGGERT CROSSING ROAD LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ 08648 609-530-6942
RELEASE: IMMEDIATE (23 February 2000)

Governor Christie Whitman Honors Our Veterans

Property Tax Relief. Gov. Whitman has consistently sought property tax relief for veterans – and her next budget for Fiscal Year 2001 (FY) proposes approximately $18 million in such assistance. Recently New Jersey voters approved, and the Governor supported a 400 percent increase in the $50 property tax deduction for veterans; the deduction will rise to $250 over a five-year period. But that's not all:

Gov. Whitman put $5.5 million in the FY 1999 budget to refund disabled veterans who paid property taxes not knowing that they were exempt. State law exempts veterans, who are fully (100 percent) and permanently disabled because of a wartime, service-related injury or disease, from paying property taxes.

Veterans Homes. Gov. Whitman has worked to ensure that the state's three veterans homes are providing the best care possible and operating efficiently. Her proposed FY 2001 budget includes an additional $9 million state match for a $33 million reconstruction of the Vineland Veterans Memorial Home, which will expand to have 300 beds and an assisted living complex with 32 beds. Here are more of the Governor's accomplishments for housing veterans:

A new $42 million, 332-bed veterans home in Menlo Park was completed in 1999, and offers adult day care to reduce the number of institutionalized veterans.

All three veterans homes in New Jersey received the state's highest level of certification for long-term care facilities, putting veterans homes in the top 10 percent of all nursing homes in the state.

Improvements in management and operations were implemented, reducing the cost to residents by an average of $1,000 over the past three years.

Gov. Whitman allowed the exclusion of federal VA compensation for service-connected disability from consideration in determining the amount of maintenance a family should pay to keep residents in NJ Veterans Homes. Since 1997, this initiative saved veterans in New Jersey an annual total of $150,000.

Veterans Home Funding. Gov. Whitman increased funding for New Jersey Veterans Homes by more than $1 million in FY 1999 and by the same amount in FY 2000.
Income Tax Exemption. Gov. Whitman signed a law to exempt military retirement pensions from New Jersey's state income tax for those over age 62.

Sales Tax Exemption. Gov. Whitman signed into law in FY 2000 a bill that grants exempt organization status under the sales tax to the National Guard Association, VFW, American Legion, Marine Corps League and other war veterans' posts or associations.

Battleship New Jersey. Gov. Whitman supported bringing the battleship USS New Jersey home to the Garden State to be used as a floating museum and a memorial. Her FY 1999 budget included $2.2 million for expenses incurred in bringing "Big J" back. And in the FY 2000 budget was $6 million for refurbishment, repair and capital costs so residents and visitors may experience the most decorated battleship in U.S. history.

Burial Services. Gov. Whitman has proposed funding for additional burials in FY 2001, enabling the number of interments at the Brigadier General Doyle Memorial Cemetery to rise annually by 200. While state funding will cover the architectural and engineering plans, the cemetery will also receive $9 million in federal money. The project will allow for multiple burials at the same time and in bad weather.

Veterans Preference for Personnel. A preference for veterans was extended for state appointments and promotions for former members of the Coast Guard who have received the Medal of Honor or Navy Cross, and for veterans of Somalia and Bosnia.

Veterans Affairs Clinic. As the federal government has focused veterans health care funding to the warmer regions of the South and West, Gov. Whitman has fought vigorously along with the state congressional delegation to retain health care benefits for veterans in the Northeast. These efforts led to the dedication a Veterans Affairs Clinic at Fort Dix in 1998, and several other clinics throughout the state.