Issue Position: Veterans, Servicemembers and Military Families

Issue Position

The daughter of a World War II veteran, Governor Maggie Hassan is committed to fulfilling our obligations to our veterans by ensuring that they and their families receive the benefits they've earned and by supporting efforts to help our returning servicemen and women secure high quality jobs.

As Governor, Maggie helped launch Operation VETS Connect to enhance New Hampshire's existing efforts to support veteran hiring. She worked to hire more veterans service officers at the New Hampshire Office of Veterans Services, increased funding for the state Veterans Home to serve more veterans and provided funding for the construction of a new unit at the state Veterans Home to care for veterans with dementia. Maggie also helped make permanent a commission studying the effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries suffered by members of the armed forces and veterans in the line of duty. And as Commander in Chief of the New Hampshire National Guard, she has stood up for our highly skilled guardsmen and women, fighting against federal cuts to National Guard resources and advocating for the basing of the new KC-46A air refueling tanker with the 157th Air Refueling Wing at Pease Air National Guard Base.

In the Senate, Maggie will continue to fight to ensure that our veterans receive the support that they need and have earned. Her priorities will include: continuing to reform the VA, working to eliminate VA wait list errors, protecting whistleblowers who bring VA problems to light, pushing for ongoing random audits of VA hospitals and holding accountable those responsible for problems at the VA. She also strongly supports efforts to make it easier for veterans to access mental health care, and to incentivize the VA to hire more mental health care professionals.

Maggie will also work to improve veterans' education, and will fight to protect veterans from the predatory practices of some for-profit colleges, provide assistance and support for veterans on college campuses and protect and enhance G.I. benefits. And she will work to build on New Hampshire's efforts to end veteran homelessness, including expanding housing vouchers for veterans in need.

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