Supporting Our Troops? Update.

(UPDATE) The Department of Veterans Affairs released a statement today about the Support Our Troops license plate issue. It's below.

The story on Saturday about the Pawlenty administration's use of money from the Support Our Troops license plate fund generated a lot of interest but it isn't the first time Pawlenty has been criticized for what some have seen as smoke and mirrors accounting in his own office.

On Monday, legislation was introduced in both the Minnesota House and Senate that would restrict the use of the fund and require reporting to the Legislature if transfers are made from the account. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Rick Olseen, DFL-Harris, in the Senate and Rep. Kory Kath, DFL-Owatonna, in the House, would also require the $30,000 transferred from the fund last year to be returned. Last year, The Star Tribune wrote extensively about the use of interagency agreements to fund personnel in the governor's office.

The most recent listing of interagency agreements has just been released.

(UPDATE) The Department of Veterans Affairs statement:

Over the past several days, you may have seen news coverage regarding Support Our Troops (SOT) license plate funds being used to partially fund our faith and community-based outreach efforts. We want to assure you, our valued stakeholders, that the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) continues to responsibly allocate the Department's resources in order to best serve the Veterans of Minnesota.

We decided last year to contract for outreach services, rather than hiring a full-time, permanent employee. The Department was able to tap into the expertise of a person who had established strong partnerships and relationships with one of the key communities with whom the Department partners for Veteran outreach - the faith-based community. This provided a significant cost savings and we feel our effort to reach Veterans this way was important, appropriate, and effective.

As you may know, approximately 60 percent of Veterans have never filed for Veterans benefits. The more diverse and comprehensive methods we can use to reach Veterans and their families, the more Veterans will receive the benefits they deserve.

Under Minnesota law, SOT funds may be used for:

2. Outreach to underserved Veterans

3. Transfers to the vehicle services account for Gold Star License plates under section 168.1253 (Impacting families who have lost a child in service to the country.)

"Outreach" means exactly that - reaching out to the community, forging partnerships and building awareness. The SOT fund was created to provide us with the necessary means to start and continue the MDVA Outreach Program as we know it today. It encompasses everything from our Outreach Program employees - to relationship building with partner organizations - to facilitation of key statewide events, such as the first ever Women Veteran's Summit held this past fall and the Vietnam Veteran Event held this past June.

Here are a few examples of the outreach efforts and accomplishments specific to the part time faith-based community outreach position:

• Worked with the MDVA Outreach team on public forums and a community Veterans Day event in south Minneapolis.

• Planned and executed a successful VA Faith-Based Forum for a statewide audience.

• Provided a Department presence on the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon effort and with community faith-based organizations and churches.

• Coordinated the annual Month of the Military Child letters, a program which has continued to grow and is now in its third year.

• Served as a committee member through NAMI for the Vet-to-Vet support group program.

• Facilitated numerous referrals to the Department, the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans and other Veterans organizations for services.

• Led the Children and Families Work Group for the Governor's Yellow Ribbon Task Force.

Our request to you is this; don't stop supporting the SOT license plate program. This crucial fund is used to benefit Veterans across the state, and if the misconceptions around this issue cause sales to decline, it will hurt Minnesota Veterans.

Thank you for your continued support of Veterans and their families in Minnesota - our nation's heroes.

Michael Pugliese
Deputy Commissioner of Programs and Services
Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs