Two Florida congressmen are pressing a Veterans Affairs (VA) office in Florida to pick up the pace with backlogged claims as members of the state delegation increasingly play an active role in calling for reforming the VA Department.
On Friday, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., teamed up with U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., to write VA Under Secretary of Benefits Allison Hickey about the VA’s St. Petersburg Regional benefits office which is currently facing a backlog. The St. Petersburg office is the only federal VA facility in the Sunshine State dealing with disability benefits. According to the congressmen, last month the office had more than 34,000 pending claims with more than half of those with a backlog of more than four months.
While admitting there has been “some progress” in efforts to clean up backlogs, the congressmen wanted answers as to what VA would do to ensure benefit claims are handled faster.
“The backlog at St. Petersburg Regional is inexcusable and demands immediate attention,” Buchanan said. “Veterans who risk life and limb for this country deserve all the care and respect a grateful nation can offer.”
“This backlog is completely unacceptable and is preventing our veterans from receiving benefits they have earned,” Murphy said. “Our service members have risked everything for this country, and it is our duty to see that they are given the respect and support they deserve. That is why we are demanding accountability for these unacceptable delays. I look forward to continuing to work with Congressman Buchanan on solutions to reduce the backlog for Florida’s veterans.”
Last week, Murphy also teamed up with another Republican congressman — U.S. Rep. Luke Messer of Indiana — to bring out a bill ensuring application fees for veterans are included under the GI Bill.
“After fighting for our nation and risking everything, it’s our duty to make sure our troops are provided with the care and support they deserve,” Murphy said on Thursday. “The increasingly high cost of college application fees has created an obstacle for veterans wishing to go to college and pursue their careers. This bill would remove that hurdle so that the brave men and women in our armed forces — the best-trained in the world — can take full advantage of the post-9/11 GI Bill and translate their leadership abilities and skills into the job market.”
Buchanan and Murphy were not the only members of the Florida delegation pushing VA reform last week.
From his perch as chairman of the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee, U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., is calling to give the secretary of Veterans Affairs more power to discipline incompetent senior executive service (SES) employees. Miller introduced a bill giving the VA secretary more flexibility in disciplining underperfoming SES employees, including reducing pensions, reducing time on forced paid administrative leave, reforming appraisals for bonus and adding more transparency.
Miller left no room for doubt that his bill was the result of reports of last year on how the VA dealt with altered waiting lists at medical facilities across the country.
“More than nine months after the VA scandal, Americans are asking ‘where is the accountability?’ Unfortunately, VA doesn’t have a good answer to this question,” Miller said on Thursday. “That’s why our focus remains on giving the VA secretary more tools to ensure corrupt and incompetent executives face serious consequences for mismanagement and malfeasance that harms veterans. Right now, the task at hand for VA leaders is replacing the department’s culture of complacency with a climate of accountability, and we are going to give them everything they need to do get the job done.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
