On Wednesday, October 9th, Massachusetts Secretary of Veterans’ Services, Jon Santiago, toured the Lowell VA Clinic and conducted a roundtable discussion with the Lowell delegation and city officials. Secretary Santiago’s visit heavily featured conversations about the recently enacted HERO Act, also known as An Act Honoring, Empowering, and Recognizing our Servicemembers and Veterans.
The HERO Act enhances benefits, modernizes veterans’ services, and fosters inclusivity for veterans in Massachusetts. Key features of the legislation include improving access to behavioral health care, boosting benefits for disabled veterans, assisting businesses that employ veterans, revising the definition of a veteran, broadening the scope of the Veterans Equality Review Board, and formalizing medical and dental benefits. The HERO Act alongside other major legislation passed in recent years has modernized veterans’ services and ensured that Massachusetts is unrivaled among the states in providing care for service members and veterans.
“Supporting veterans is a legislative priority of the entire Lowell State House Delegation,” said Senator Kennedy.
In recent years, the Massachusetts legislature has passed several pieces of legislation pertaining to veterans, all of which have been supported by the entire Lowell Delegation. Some examples include the creation of the first cabinet-level Secretary of Veterans’ Services, the creation of the Executive Office of Veterans Services, and the establishment of the Veterans Equality Review Board. The entire Lowell delegation also voted to approve $483 million in improvements for the Veterans’ Home in Holyoke and the Massachusetts Veterans Home at Chelsea, voted to fund a women’s veteran study, and appropriated $500,000 for the Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program to expand trauma services for veterans across the Commonwealth.