Thursday, July 16, 2015. What a dreadful day! I went to Augusta hoping to find some civility in our State House. I saw and heard a lot of anger and got the feeling it was payback time. “Let’s show the governor who’s in charge!” “Who does he think he is?” These are just some of the comments coming from our Legislators. My opinion is that not many were thinking about “we the people.”

I sat in the Senate chamber and watched as the votes to override the governor’s vetoes came one after another, 34-0 (1 absent). All I could think about was how many of these senators actually took the time to read why the governor was vetoing these bills. Looks like we’ll have to wait until the legal people make a decision.

Some of the bills affecting veterans and others:

LD 43: An Act To Make False Claims of Military Service a Crime (now law)

LD 249: An Act To Enable Seniors To Remain In Their Home (carried over)

LD 721: Resolve, To Establish the Commission To Strengthen and Align the Services Provided to Maine’s Veterans (now law)

LD 1062: An Act To Support Housing for Homeless Veterans, A Project at Togus VA (carried over)

LD 1272: An Act To Strengthen the Protections for Senior Citizens (now law)

LD 1348: An Act To Protect Older Adults from Financial Exploitation (now law)

LD 1019: The Biennial Budget:

— Eliminates state income tax on military pensions;

— Provides direct property tax relief by doubling the homestead exemption of $10,000 to $20,000 for all Maine families;

— Increases investment in K-12 public education by $80 million and rejects the elimination of municipal revenue sharing, both of which will reduce growing pressure on local property taxpayers;

— Rejects cuts to drugs for the elderly and Medicare savings programs and increases funding for nursing homes by $16 million.

LD 1280, regarding a casino for southern Maine (a bill that will benefit many people), carried over. You’ll be hearing more about this bill. In my opinion, this is a people’s bill. Yes, it’s a gambling bill, but the cascade it provides will keep a lot of Maine people working and finally provide financial independence for Maine veterans.

In Washington, we need to contact our Maine delegation and ask them to support legislation that will affect veterans, their families and survivors. Those bills include HR 675 The Veterans Compensation Cost of Living Adjustment Act, HR 732 The Veterans Access to Speedy Review Act, HR 800 The Express Appeals Act.

HR 1331 would amend title 38 to improve the treatment of medical evidence provided by non-Department of Veterans Affairs medical professionals in support of claims for disability compensation under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. This is important. Many of our local veterans are affected by this bill.

Other bills include:

— HR 1414, a bill to direct the VA secretary to make interim payments of disability compensation benefits for certain claims for compensation, prior to the adjudication of such claims;

— HR 1607, a bill to amend Title 38 to clarify the estate of a deceased veteran, who may receive certain accrued benefits upon death of the veteran (important to veteran survivors).

— HR 1607, a bill to amend Title 38 to improve the disability compensation evaluation procedure by the VA secretary for veterans with mental health conditions related to military service sexual trauma. You may be eligible for benefits if you are a uniformed service member or veteran, or if you are a spouse, child or a parent of a disabled or deceased service member or veteran.

To continue from last week’s column: Education and training — VA pays benefits to eligible service members and veterans pursuing an approved education or training program. There are four primary VA education benefit programs that cover active duty, nation guard and reserve service members and veterans: Post 9/11 G.I. Bill (Chapter 33), Montgomery G.I. Bill — Active Duty (Chapter 30), Montgomery G.I. Bill — Selected Reserve (Chapter 1606), Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP).

Information on all educational programs can be found at www.gibill.va.gov.

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Chick Ciciotte is the legislative chairperson for the Mid-Coast Veterans Council. He lives in Topsham.