Mary Burke shares her plan to support Wisconsin’s veterans

Last week Thursday Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke laid out her position on veterans issues in a statement released to reporters.

Here’s the highlights of Burke’s plan.

Burke said she would seek legislation to repeal a law Walker signed earlier this year that made it more difficult for victims of asbestos-related diseases to recover damages in court. Several veterans groups opposed the law.

Burke also promised to reinstate the Equal Pay Enforcement Act, which Gov. Jim Doyle signed into law in 2009 and Walker repealed in 2012. The law allowed people in certain protected classes, including veterans, to sue employers for pay discrimination in court once other remedies for pay discrimination were exhausted.

She pledged changes at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. Her changes would entail restoring committees that included veterans from around the state, creating a new committee dedicated to veteran employment and education, appointing a university services program ombudsman, and establishing a federal liaison to work with the Federal Aid Management Service.

At a minimum, she said, the department should re-create the County Veterans Service Officers Advisory Council to provide veteran input on the operations of Wisconsin veterans’ homes.

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