Measure extends veterans' benefits

Governor Mitt Romney yesterday signed legislation that will make about 54,000 former members of the military eligible for state veterans' benefits three months from now.

The legislation changes the state's definition of a veteran to include those who served during peacetime, primarily adding those who were in the military from 1946 to 1950 and from 1975 to 1990. The bill's Senate sponsor, Senator Susan C. Tucker, said the change will cost the state about $200,000 to $300,000 annually. Tucker said the bill parallels the federal definition of a veteran.

Paul G. Keough, president of the Massachusetts Veterans' Service Officers Association, said the veterans will be eligible for a veterans assistance program, unique to Massachusetts. Other state benefits include in-state college tuition exemptions, real estate abatements, preference for civil service jobs, and veterans' license plates.

When the law takes effect, the prerequisite for benefits will be at least 180 days of military service before an honorable discharge.

Veterans' advocates applauded the law. "The commitment that an individual makes when you volunteer to join the military is a commitment to place yourself in a situation where you go where you are ordered, and you may be ordered into combat," Keough said. "The danger situation, even if there's not a combat situation, goes on."

Keough, who also chairs the Massachusetts Unified Veterans Association, said the umbrella organization, which includes 43 veterans' groups, is unanimous in its support of the law.

Some individuals have opposed the legislation for fiscal reasons or because they believe that only those who served in combat should have the distinction, he said.

At a State House ceremony, Romney also criticized recent media coverage of prisoner abuse in Iraq. "The recent abuses in a prison in Iraq have received so much attention around the world that I've wondered why it is there's been so much attention given to that," Romney said.

"It does not in any way reflect on the men and women of our armed services, on the military branches themselves, or on the great men and women who serve for Massachusetts," he said.