One federal department will be protected from automatic budget cuts effecting the government: the Department of Veteran Affairs with its 300,000 employees and $140 billion budget, an agency second in size to the Defense Department.
But while the VA is protected from the budget ax known as sequestration, veterans are not. Programs that support veterans that are operated by agencies other than the VA are subject to the cuts.
They include the Department of Labor’s VETS job-training program, which is suppose to help reduce unemployment among veterans and returning servicemen. Acting Labor Secretary Seth Harris said last month that about 55,000 veterans and 44,000 servicemen would not receive employment and other transition assistance to aid them in finding civilian jobs because of the budget cuts.
Another program affected is Housing and Urban Development commonly referred to as HUD. HUD has been credited with reducing the amount of homeless vets by 17 percent since 2009 by providing vouchers for housing. While the vouchers will still be issued funding will be cut. HUD fears this will have a “serious effect” on the number of local housing authorities willing to accept the vouchers because of the deficit the cuts will leave according to Sandra Henriquez, assistant secretary for public housing.
Many Defense Departments programs that support our veterans, wounded servicemen, and their families are going to feel the cuts. The number of mental health counselors helping those with issues such as PTSD may be cut. Also, medical providers working at VA hospitals and clinics are subject to the ax. “This may mean a decrease in clinic appointment availability or longer wait times to see providers”, says the Pentagon’s assistant secretary for health affairs.
Even death is not going to exempt our veterans from the sequestration. There is already a wait of a month or more for burial at Arlington National Cemetery. The number of burials is expected to drop from 31 a day to 24.
Our vets and their families have sacrificed themselves for us and our country and to subject them to budget cuts such as these is a shame I hope can be avoided by a compromise being reached.
Veterans not spared budget cuts
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