SUCCESS! CURRAN BRINGS GOV. TO TABLE FOR VETS BILL

Assemblyman now in negotiations with governor, legislative leaders on future of vets benefit bill; attributes success to supporters of his petition in the first step toward making the bill law

Assemblyman Brian Curran (Lynbrook-21st AD) today announced an early success in the fight to override the governor’s veto of the veterans benefit bill (A.8174-A/S.5937). He said he will enter into direct negotiations with the governor’s office, legislative leaders, and the sponsors of the legislation in the days and weeks ahead. Curran attributed the sudden about-face by the governor’s office to the over 2,100 people who have thus far signed his petition calling for an override of the veto. A link to the petition is here: http://bit.ly/OverrideGov-SupportOurVets. Curran and supporters have been circulating the petition on Facebook and other mass media platforms since last week.

Curran also said he will cancel his press conference with the East Rockaway VFW Post #3350 set for Friday, Nov. 6. He said the purpose of the press conference was to call on Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan to convene a special session of the legislature, before the end of the year, to override the governor’s veto of the veterans benefit bill. Curran said now that he has a direct line of communication with the governor and legislative leaders on this issue, the press conference is no longer needed.

“The governor has heard us, and he is very much aware of our petition; so my special thanks go to everyone who has, so far, signed it. But we have more work to do, and your help is still needed,” said Curran, a long-time veterans’ advocate and Ranking Member on the Assembly Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “Recently, I was contacted directly by the governor’s office, and they would like to work with me, legislative leaders, and the sponsors of the bill to work toward its passage. There is no question that this is still a very urgent matter for me and many of our servicemen and women and veterans, so I have canceled only my press conference. Our petition, however, is still very active, and we still need as many signatures as possible. I remain steadfast in my commitment to assisting our military men and women, veterans and active duty personnel who deserve our support and these benefits. I hope the governor is ready to move this forward immediately, and I look forward to what we can accomplish together in the coming weeks and into the next legislative session.”

The legislation would allow military veterans enrolled in the public retirement system to buy back pension credits. He noted that the Assembly Democrats’ previous versions of this legislation were vetoed by Gov. Cuomo before Veterans Day last year because they lacked a way to pay for the program. This year’s bill included a payment mechanism but was still vetoed.

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Editor’s Note: Attached is the letter from the governor’s office.