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Veterans and the Military

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Citizens Count Editor
Summary

If you have served in the U.S. military, you are entitled to benefits at both the state and federal level.  State benefits generally fall under the umbrella of the New Hampshire Office of Veterans Services, although there are many other state agencies that provide services to veterans. Federal benefits fall under the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This article focuses on benefits for veterans provided by the state of New Hampshire.

State agencies handling veterans’ services

The New Hampshire Office of Veterans Services — part of the Department of Health and Human Services — is the primary state organization responsible for assisting veterans in securing state and federal benefits. 

There are other offices, agencies, and commissions that deal with veterans affairs in New Hampshire, however, such as the Bureau of Community Based Military Programs focuses on projects and partnerships that support services for veterans from civilian health care providers.

In 2018, Gov. Chris Sununu signed an executive order directing the Office of Veterans Services and the Bureau of Community Based Military Programs to coordinate services under the leadership of the Department of the Adjutant General — the head of New Hampshire's National Guard — to ensure that veterans have a single point of contact with the state.

Veterans Track in NH courts

There are six “Veterans Tracks” — also called veterans courts — in New Hampshire. These tracks allow veterans with illnesses (such as PTSD or substance abuse disorder) to complete court-monitored treatment and services rather than go through the regular court process. If a veteran meets court requirements, he or she may have criminal charges dismissed or annulled. New Hampshire does not provide special funding for the Veterans Tracks; the federal government and various nonprofits provide grants for veterans’ courts.

NH Veterans Home

The New Hampshire Veterans Home is a long-term care facility for aging veterans who have lived at least one year in New Hampshire and have assets under $275,000. The home has a capacity of 250 residents. Residents must pay room and board charges, which vary depending on a veteran’s assets.  Those charges provide about $9 million in annual funding for the New Hampshire Veterans Home. The federal government provides about $10 million in annual funding, and New Hampshire provides about $17 million from the general fund of all tax dollars.

Click here to learn more about the NH Veterans Home

NH Veterans Cemetery

In 1997 New Hampshire opened a veterans cemetery in Boscawen.  Veterans and their dependents may be interred at the cemetery. The cemetery makes about $100,000 in annual fees. The federal government provides about $400,000 a year, and the state provides about $350,000 from the general fund of all state tax dollars.

Click here to learn more about the NH Veterans Cemetery

Veteran property tax credits

Towns in New Hampshire can adopt a local property tax credit up to $750 for honorably discharged veterans. Totally and permanently disabled veterans may be eligible for a property tax credit up to $4,000 or exempt from property taxes altogether. The spouse of a veteran killed in active duty may also be eligible for a property tax credit up to $4,000. 

The New Hampshire Legislature has considered various bills to increase the maximum tax credit towns may adopt for veterans or to increase eligibility. The most recent expansion in eligibility occurred in 2016, when the Legislature extended the tax credit to all honorably discharged veterans, not just those who served in certain conflicts.

Click here to learn more about the tax credits available to veterans in your town

Employment preference for veterans

State law only allows the government to give preference to hiring a veteran if candidates for a job are otherwise equally qualified. The Legislature has considered several bills to change this law and allow a stronger preference for hiring veterans, though no such bill has passed. 

Private employers in New Hampshire may establish a preference for hiring veterans if they so choose.

License fees, veterans plates, and other state benefits

New Hampshire provides active duty and retired service members with many smaller benefits. For example, veterans with a service-connected disability can get free admission to state parks. Some patients at the Manchester VA Medical Center are eligible for free fishing licenses. Veterans are also eligible for special license plates and a veterans’ designation on their drivers licenses.

Contact the NH Office of Veterans Services for more information on state benefits for veterans

Manchester VA Medical Center

The federal government is responsible for providing free health care to veterans. However, New Hampshire is the only state in the nation without a full-service VA hospital. Instead, a VA Medical Center in Manchester provides New Hampshire veterans with many hospital services, such as radiology and physical therapy. Veterans who require more serious in-patient treatment or specialist care are referred to other health care providers.

In recent years whistleblowing employees revealed several problems at the Manchester VA Medical Center, from a fly-infested operating room to an abnormally high number of veterans with preventable spinal conditions. In July 2017 VA Secretary David Shulkin removed some of the leaders at the Manchester VA, pledged more funding, and launched an investigation.

In addition to problems with the quality of treatment, in August 2017 the Medical Center building was damaged by a burst pipe. In December 2017 there was a bedbug infestation. In response, the Legislature passed a bill that allows VA doctors to provide services to Manchester VA Medical Center patients at other medical facilities.  

While state officials have expressed concern about the VA health care for New Hampshire veterans, the Manchester VA Medical Center is ultimately the responsibility of the federal government, and there are no proposals to offer health care to veterans through the state.

The federal government also offers the Veterans Choice program, which pays for veterans to get health care from community providers rather than VA doctors. The Veterans Choice program has faced criticism for excessively long appointment wait times, however.

Nonprofits for veterans

While this article focuses on state government services for veterans, there are private nonprofits in New Hampshire that also provide services for veterans.  For example, Liberty House provides transitional housing for homeless veterans in Manchester, without any state or federal funding. 

Easterseals Military and Veterans Services also provides resources and services to New Hampshire veterans, including financial assistance through the Veterans Count program. Easterseals does receive some funding from the state through grants. 

Author
Citizens Count Editor

“NH should do more to help returning veterans.”

  • According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 10% of New Hampshire adults are veterans.  That is higher than the national average of 7%. New Hampshire therefore has a larger obligation than other states to help veterans.
  • According to data from the 2016 American Community Survey, veterans across the U.S. have a lower unemployment rate than non-veterans. In New Hampshire, however, veterans and non-veterans have about the same unemployment rate. This suggests that New Hampshire could do more to help veterans find employment. 
  • Bringing veterans’ services under a single department would make it easier for veterans to receive coordinated, quality services if all of those services were managed centrally.
  • There are many examples of policies in other states that New Hampshire could adopt to help veterans. For example, Louisiana includes veterans as a specific class protected under the state’s anti-discrimination law. Other states, such as Illinois, create unique license plates for female veterans, and use proceeds from the plates to fund services specific to female veterans.  Over the years states have also offered various grants and tax credits to employers that hire veterans.
  • As the only state without a full-service veterans hospital, New Hampshire has a special duty to ensure the state is doing everything it can to help protect veterans’ health and rights. The problems at the Manchester VA Medical Center emphasize that the federal government cannot be trusted to take care of veterans’ needs.
Author
Citizens Count Editor

“NH is already doing enough to help returning veterans.”

  • Veterans in New Hampshire are better off than non-veterans in many ways. For example, according to data from the American Community Survey, in 2016 New Hampshire veterans had an annual median income of over $40,000. Non-veterans in New Hampshire had an annual median income of roughly $32,000.  Similarly, only 5% of veterans were below the poverty level, compared to 8% of non-veterans in New Hampshire. This suggests that veterans are less in need of state services than other populations.
  • Rather than spend money on reorganizing veterans’ services into a new department, the state should spend money directly on expanded services. 
  • According the 2017 report “The State of Homelessness in New Hampshire,” published by the NH Coalition to End Homelessness, veteran homelessness had been decreasing in New Hampshire. 
  • Compared to the rest of the U.S., veterans in New Hampshire fair better than veterans in other states. For example, according to the 2016 American Community Survey, the unemployment rate of New Hampshire veterans was 5%, compared to the national average of 6%. Similarly, 5% of New Hampshire veterans were below the poverty level, compared to 7% of veterans nationally. 
  • If New Hampshire further expands veteran property tax credits, it could have a significant negative impact on tax revenue at the state and/or local level, since property taxes are the primary source of revenue in New Hampshire, and roughly one-tenth of New Hampshire adults are veterans. Any further increase in veteran tax credits would result in an unjustified increase in the tax burden for non-veterans.

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