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November 2, 2009

2 veteran-related issues on ballot

McALLEN (AP) — With more than 1.7 million military veterans in Texas and just nine Veterans Affairs hospitals, long drives are not uncommon in the Rio Grande Valley and some other parts of the state with large veteran populations.

For decades veterans along the U.S.-Mexico border have had to travel five hours to San Antonio for many medical procedures.

On Nov. 3, Texas voters could enlist the state's aid in establishing more VA hospitals with Proposition 8, a ballot measure that would allow the state to partner with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to build hospitals in Texas.

State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., a co-author of the legislation that put the question on the ballot, said he remembered making that drive from the Valley to San Antonio many times with his father, a disabled war veteran.

“If the voters of Texas approve this proposition ... it will send a very strong statement of intent from the voters to the state that we should partner with the federal government to make this happen,” Lucio said. “It comes at a time when our veterans population has grown and medical services are needed.”

In recent years, the VA has bolstered its presence in Harlingen, cutting the need for many of those long drives. And in January, the VA announced that it will open a $40 million clinic at the University of Texas Regional Medical Education Center in Harlingen. The agency said the new facility would eliminate about 95 percent of trips to San Antonio for area veterans. It was scheduled for completion next fall, but that date has been pushed to January 2011.

Salvador Salinas, the veterans service officer for Cameron County, said “slowly, the number of people that are going (to San Antonio) is coming down.”

Salinas said proving that the Valley has enough veterans to justify a hospital has been the stumbling block for years. He hoped that allowing the state to partner with the VA could remove that hurdle.

Under the proposed change the Veterans Administration would still be responsible for establishing the hospital, but the state could contribute money, property or other resources to assist the project.

The measure was driven by legislators from the Rio Grande Valley. El Paso, home to Fort Bliss, has been mentioned as another community with a large veteran population, though the VA currently contracts with the base hospital for its inpatient care. Even though the ballot language leaves open the possibility of establishing VA hospitals anywhere in Texas, the enabling legislation, which passed both chambers of the Legislature without opposition, makes clear that the Rio Grande Valley is the target.

A House analysis of the proposal determined that the proposition itself had no cost, but proposal's point was to give the state authority to contribute to VA hospitals so costs would eventually come.

“This would be another vehicle for us to get a hospital down here,” said Emilio de los Santos, the veterans service officer for Hidalgo County. “Now it's up to the general public to support us.”

Proposition 6, another veteran-related measure on the upcoming ballot, would allow the state to continue issuing bonds for the veterans home loan program that provides low-interest loans for land, homes or home renovations. It reappears on the ballot every couple of years, Salinas said.

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