SENATE MEMORIAL 103

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013

INTRODUCED BY

William H. Payne

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE VETERANS' SERVICES DEPARTMENT TO DEVELOP A DRAFT STRATEGIC PLAN OUTLINING VETERANS' ISSUES IN NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, there are over one hundred seventy thousand veterans who are residents of the state of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, a significant number of New Mexico veterans have come home and will continue to return due to the drawdown of forces from Iraq and Afghanistan; and

     WHEREAS, a research project conducted by the army war college and published in 2012 states that during drawdowns, the nation historically reduces defense spending to about three hundred seventy-five billion dollars ($375,000,000,000), in real terms, and that currently the nation is expending six hundred forty-six billion dollars ($646,000,000,000) for defense, including war-related funding, on top of the five- hundred-thirty-one-billion-dollar ($531,000,000,000) base defense budget; and

     WHEREAS, with decreasing operations in Afghanistan, the nation's challenging fiscal and economic situations will demand significant reductions in the base defense budget, estimating that if the nation follows historical patterns during the global war on terror drawdown, it may reduce the base defense budget by about twenty-four percent over the next ten years, approximately one trillion four hundred billion dollars ($1,400,000,000,000), which is more reductions than sequestration requires in the federal Budget Control Act of 2011; and

     WHEREAS, under such a drawdown scenario, the United States department of defense would have to consider a reduction of five hundred thousand active duty service members, particularly given the increased costs of manpower, which have grown sixty-three percent since the nation implemented the all-volunteer force; and

     WHEREAS, a significant number of the five hundred thousand service members that may be part of the drawdown reduction will come home to New Mexico, and the reduction in federal defense spending could have a significant impact on the benefits and services available to veterans; and

     WHEREAS, veterans face a number of unique issues and suffer many physical and mental health injuries due to the service they have provided to this country, including traumatic brain injury, the signature injury of the current global war on terror, and posttraumatic stress disorder, which is being diagnosed in record numbers; and

     WHEREAS, the veterans' services department should work in conjunction with the United States department of veterans affairs and department of defense to determine the best strategies that will ensure that the veterans who have come home, and those that will soon be home, are taken care of in a manner in which they deserve and in gratitude for their service and their sacrifice; and

     WHEREAS, it is important to develop a strategic plan that will address issues facing New Mexico veterans who have bravely served this country and help to prepare the state to meet veterans' needs now and in the future;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the veterans' services department, in conjunction with the United States department of veterans affairs and department of defense, develop a draft strategic plan that:

          A. outlines what the department and experts on veterans' issues nationwide see as growing issues for veterans; and

          B. reviews the state's capability to work with and use current United States department of veterans affairs policies and grant programs to meet the diverse needs of New Mexico veterans; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the draft strategic plan include an assessment of:

          A. adequate cemetery space for veterans, including the need in future decades for veteran burials based on current United States department of veterans affairs proximity criteria for appropriate veteran cemeteries;

          B. veteran homes and facilities, including a projection for long-term care due to issues such as traumatic brain injury;

          C. the current and projected number of veterans who require various levels of care, including those with a need for treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder;

          D. access and obstacles to facilities that provide treatment for veterans, particularly to veterans that reside in rural areas of the state; and

          E. the economic impact of retiree, pension and non-pension veterans on the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the veterans' services department report the draft strategic plan to the New Mexico legislative council and the interim military and veterans' affairs committee by November 1, 2013; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president pro tempore of the senate and the secretary of veterans' services.

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