Victoria Cobb, president of The Family Foundation, says lawmakers were recently called into special session to fix a simple mistake concerning veteran benefits, but Democratic Senator Louise Lucas, the head of the Finance and Appropriations Committee, declined to advance any proposal regarding it.
"They should have walked in, fixed the mistake, and walked out," she contends. "Everyone would be set."
Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) had asked the legislators to tweak portions of a recently signed bill that prevent some military heroes, first responders, and their families from accessing the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program (VMSDEP), which waives tuition for survivors and dependents of veterans killed or seriously disabled while on active duty.
He wanted the state Senate to repeal the budget provisions and let a task force further study what changes should be made. Lawmakers reportedly returned to Richmond June 18 specifically to address those changes, but they failed to do anything.
"Instead, gambling interests saw this as an opportunity … to prey on those that least can afford it by trying to expand gambling into our convenience stores," Cobb notes.
She believes the governor is trying to find a way to resolve the veterans' benefits without being forced to approve something he knows is going to be harmful to the rest of Virginians, "which is the gambling initiative."
The House of Delegates is slated to return to Richmond on June 28 to address changes to VMSDEP.
