Laws and Legislation

LEGISLATIVE ALERT:

HONORING OUR PACT ACT: This may be the most important piece of Veterans Legislation in the last 20 plus years. We need all Veterans and Patriots to call our Senators and recommend that they pass this important legislation. Here is the VFW’s link for more background and the ability to send an email to the Senators.

https://votervoice.net/VFW/Campaigns/93807/Respond 

This legislation has been passed by the house and we want this legislation to be passed as is in the Senate without amendments or changes. 

Below are phone and email scripts and contacts to the Senators Office:

Contact Ohio US Senators Offices: 

Senator Sherrod Brown and Senator JD Vance – https://www.senate.gov/states/OH/intro.htm

Phone Script for the Honoring our PACT Act:

My name is FIRST & LAST NAME and I reside in the TOWN and STATE. As one of your constituents, I ask that Senator LAST NAME support the Honoring our PACT Act.

This is a comprehensive solution to provide VA health care and benefits to veterans who suffered toxic exposures during military service. Not only would the PACT Act provide veterans health care and disability benefits, it would also establish a permanent presumptive framework to address any toxic exposure, foreign or domestic, past, present, and future. I ask Senator LAST NAME to do the right thing for veterans who are sick and dying.

 I ask Senator LAST NAME to vote YES when the PACT Act comes to the Senate floor this year. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Emails:

Senator_Brown@brown.senate.gov

Senator_Vance@vance.senate.gov

Email Script

As a voter in your state, I would like to bring to your attention to an important bill that supports veterans exposed to toxic substances.

From Vietnam to the present day, members of the U.S. military have been exposed to toxic substances, both at home and abroad, which have killed many more than our enemy. For years, our government has hidden the ill effects of these toxicants from those who were exposed. Moreover, for years, the VA has denied their resulting claims.

On March 3, 2022, H.R. 3967, the Honoring our PACT Act, passed the House of Representatives by a 256 to 174 vote.  

March 29, 2022, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hosted a hearing on H.R. 3967, the Honoring Our PACT Act.  

The bill, when passed into law, would:

  • Concede exposure to burn pits and toxic environments;
  • Provide healthcare based on toxic exposures;
  • Add 24 burn pit and toxic exposure-related diseases;
  • Add hypertension as a presumptive disease associated with Agent Orange Exposure;
  • Provide a framework for establishing presumptive diseases in the future;
  • Expand radiation-risk activities to include veterans who participated in radiation cleanup at Enewetak Atoll and Palomares, Spain;
  • Including Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Guam, American Samoa and Johnston Atoll as conceded locations for Agent Orange Exposure;
  • Require registries for veterans who served at Ft. McClellan and for those exposed to PFAS chemicals.

We need to make it right for the over 3.5 million veterans suffering from the long-term health effect of exposure to toxic agents considered to be, in many instances, just as lethal as wounds inflicted by shrapnel and bullets.

We urge Chairman Tester and Ranking Member Moran, of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, to move this bill out of committee immediately and onto the Senate floor for a vote and passage.

My family and I thank you.

Jared F. Smith
President of the Washington County Veterans Service Commission
Veterans Service Commissioner
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Past President of the Ohio State
Association of Veterans Service Commissioners
www.OSAVSC.org

Washington County Veterans Service Office
706 Pike Street · Suite 1
Marietta, Ohio 45750
740568-9009 (Office)
740398-4584 (Cell)
740568-9019 (Fax)
WCVSO.Commissioner@gmail.com

OHIO REVISED CODES (ORC) & OHIO ADMINISTRATIVE CODES (OAC) RELATING TO OHIO COUNTY VETERANS SERVICE COMMISSIONS

Per ORC 5902.02, you are being furnished current state laws, rules, and legislation relating to the operation of Ohio county Veterans Service Commissions. Content is current as of the date listed below. It is up to your commission to verify content is up-to-date when using this document for any reason. These codes should not be considered all-inclusive to the operation of your commission.

The County Veterans Service Office Legal Precedents & Attorney General Opinions

The County Veterans Service Office Legal Precedents & Attorney General Opinions is intended to provide county veterans services offices with a list of legalprecedents and Attorney General Opinions that are directly related to their responsibilities and day to day operations. When using this document it is important to know the difference between a legal precedent and legal opinion. Legal precedent and legal opinion are easily confused and sometimes are erroneously interchanged. A description of each is provided.

Ohio Sunshine Law In a Nutshell Presented by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine Angela M. Sullivan Senior Assistant Attorney General

This is an overview of the Sunshine Laws and is not legal advice.  Contact your local prosecutor with specific questions regarding Sunshine Laws.

Topics include: 
– Overview of enabling statutes
– Public Records Law
– Open Meetings Act

Accreditation & Education Policy 2020

The purpose of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services (ODVS) Accreditation and Education Policy is to ensure that effective training is provided to County Veterans Service Commissioners (CVSC), County Veterans Service Officers (CVSO), County Veterans Service Officers in Training (CVSO-IT), and staff members in accordance with reference (a) 38 CFR 14.629, (b) Ohio Revised Code 5802.02, and (c) Ohio Administrative Code 5902-1.

Ohio State Association of Veterans Service Commissioners

CONSTITUTION

This document provides an overview of our Organization name, Purposes, Membership, and Amendments

Ohio State Association of Veterans Service Commissioners

ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION

Certificate of Amendment to Articles of Incorporation.