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Donald Trump signs VA reform bill backed by Marco Rubio

in 2017 by

President Donald Trump signed a bill into law aimed at reforming the Department of Veterans Affairs by allowing the secretary to dismiss bad employees. The bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio, gives the VA secretary the authority to fire and demote employees. It also adds protections for whistleblowers, by prohibiting the secretary from using his or her authority to fire employees who filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel. The measure — which passed the Senate on…

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Official: VA changes policy on declaring veterans dead

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

A congressman says the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is changing its procedures to avoid wrongly declaring veterans deceased and cutting off their benefits. U.S. Rep. David Jolly told The Associated Press on Tuesday that in response to a letter he sent in November, the VA said it erroneously stopped benefits to 115 people between July 7, 2014, and April 1, 2015, because the department had wrongly declared them dead. In a letter dated Dec. 10, the VA told Jolly’s…

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David Jolly campaign unveils “Freedom Card” petition

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The 2016 Senate campaign of U.S. Rep. David Jolly rolled out a new petition Monday in support of Jolly’s so-called “Freedom Card” Veterans Affairs reform plan. The Clearwater Republican unveiled a new website, VeteransforJolly.com, where voters can register their support for Jolly’s proposal to issue new ID cards to vets which would allow them to access care outside of existing regional or VA constraints. “The time has come to put the veteran in charge of their health care decisions, not the VA,” said…

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David Jolly doubles down on Hillary Clinton criticism of VA health service

in 2017/Top Headlines by

Doubling down on his previous critical remarks, Pinellas County GOP Congressman and 2016 senate hopeful David Jolly is now demanding that Hillary Clinton formally retract her recent comments on the quality of care at Veterans Administration facilities. While appearing on the Rachel Maddow show on October 23, Clinton said she didn’t understand why there was a problem with the VA serving veterans health care needs. “I don’t understand why we have such a problem, because there have been a number of surveys of veterans. And…

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Donald Trump releases plan aimed at improving veterans’ care

in 2017/Top Headlines by

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump released a plan on Saturday aimed at improving veterans’ health care and other services in the wake of continued criticism of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Under Trump’s plan, eligible veterans would be able to bring their veterans’ identification cards to any doctor or facility that accepts Medicare and be able to receive immediate treatment. He said the change, which has also been proposed by other GOP candidates, would help improve wait times and services…

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538: Analysis of Virginia vote

in Uncategorized by

In trying to understand Creigh Deeds’ smashing win in yesterday’s VA gubernatorial primary, turnout patterns are one obvious thing to focus on. But the more you stare at the numbers, the more Deeds’ win looks like a triumph of persuasion for him rather than any failure in mobilization efforts by his rivals. The total vote topped 320,000 or 6.4 percent of registered voters. That was well above the 250,000 that state officials expected, and over double the turnout in the…

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