Strickland Announces Veterans Plan

For Immediate Release:                              Contact: Keith Dailey
Friday, June 23, 2006                                     614 857-0700/614 506-4949
                                                                      dailey@tedstrickland.com

Strickland Announces Plan to Boost
Services for Ohio Veterans

Cleveland, Ohio - In a speech today before the Ohio chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars, gubernatorial candidate Congressman Ted Strickland proposed a comprehensive plan to enhance services for Ohio's one million veterans, including elevating the Office of Veterans' Affairs to a cabinet level, providing tuition relief, housing assistance and establishing a toll-free resource hotline.

"I am proud of my record in Congress as a Member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee," Strickland said. "I've fought for life-saving body armor for our troops and to expand physical and mental health care services for veterans and their families. As governor, I will continue to be an outspoken advocate for Ohio's veterans, national guardsmen and military retirees."

By elevating and expanding the Office of Veterans' Affairs to a cabinet level and creating an Ohio Department of Veterans' Affairs, Strickland would emphasize education and outreach to veterans through his Promises Kept Initiative.

Strickland's proposals include:

• Working with Ohio's public colleges and universities to waive 75% of tuition costs for qualifying Ohio veterans.
• Working with the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and the Department of Development to target housing benefits, including the first time home-buyer program and down-payment assistance, to veterans and emergency rent and mortgage assistance to those who are currently serving and experiencing financial hardships because of their deployments.
• Establishing a toll-free hotline for veterans and military families to obtain information related to state and federal benefits and services.
• Excluding military-retiree pensions from state taxation.
• Lobbying the federal government to provide health care to nearly 10,000 Ohio veterans turned down for VA care in 2005.
• Securing state and federal funding to build two new veterans' homes.

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