“My father piloted a B-17 in World War II, flying 34 missions over Germany when he was just nineteen years old, at a time when only half of those flying out of the base in the morning returned home at night. He rarely spoke of the war, never glorified his contribution. Only now, as I have the privilege of coming to know the extraordinary men and women of Wisconsin’s Air and Army National Guard, can I begin to understand how this experience shaped the man and, in the end, his family.”  – Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton

Nearly 3,500 Wisconsin National Guard soldiers are currently on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, joining tens of thousands of other U.S. soldiers who must confront the fervor of people who have not had that strong spirit of freedom within them for generations as we have. U.S. soldiers discover that plowing the path for democracy and building a new government can clearly be a complex and dangerous project.

These dedicated, smart and courageous soldiers – men and women from 18 to 60+ – leave their families and employment for a year or more at a time, many for multiple deployments. We honor the heroism etched in the faces and lives of this growing number of veterans in our midst. 

And we honor those soldiers’ families – lonely, supportive, worried, in charge of the overwhelming task of keeping homes and businesses afloat. Their bravery and strength of character are an expression of their deep patriotism.

To honor these soldiers and their families, all of us in Wisconsin must fulfill our sacred obligation to our veterans. We make our contribution from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor by working to develop policy that will ease veterans’ re-entry so they may enjoy the same promise of democracy they fought to preserve with their service.

Saving Wisconsin’s GI Bill

Instead of waiting for the federal government to restore full funding for tuition for our nation’s veterans, Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton led the fight in our own state legislature to make sure we got it right for Wisconsin’s soldiers. 

She traveled the state with the chairs of the Veterans Affairs committees – in the Assembly, then-Rep. Terry Musser and state Sen. Jim Sullivan – alerting the public to this defining moment for Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin GI Bill, enacted in 2005, stipulates reimbursement to University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Technical College System schools for 100 percent tuition remission for veterans. Governor Doyle’s budget proposal appropriates $11.6 million for grants to provide undergraduate or graduate school tuition for all veterans who live in the state of Wisconsin and were honorably discharged.

At that point the Legislature was prepared to completely eliminate the program’s funding or place severe limitations on eligibility. Following Lt. Governor Lawton’s push, the Joint Finance Committee voted unanimously to restore the funding.

Wisconsin’s Veterans Intervention Program

Lt. Governor Lawton joined forces with State Public Defender Nick Chiarkas to address the challenge of a high percentage – one in five according to a RAND Corporation study – of veterans returning with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression. 

In Wisconsin, we began to see too many new veterans coming home after long deployments to financial and family troubles and too many arrests credibly traced to PTSD: drinking, carrying weapons, anger, suicide and driving too fast. Reports coming from every corner of the state bore out our suspicion that, without help, some of the men and women who served us so valiantly were digging a hole and landing in our criminal justice system.

A Department of Corrections census of those self-identified as vets found 4,419 in our correctional system, rather evenly spread statewide from the Illinois border to Superior. 

The Offices of the Lieutenant Governor and of the State Public Defender organized an effort to establish the Wisconsin Veteran’s Intervention Project (VIP). This would include a veterans court program modeled after a successful one in Buffalo, N.Y.; a free/low-cost legal clinic provided by the law schools to provide veterans with access to legal counsel; and training for law enforcement, court personnel and defenders about issues that affect combat veterans, including de-escalation tactics.

Pictured Above) Lt. Governor Lawton talks with New York Judge Robert Russell about his success story of the nation’s first veterans treatment court.  Click here to read more.

Work on the VIP continues with a growing number of partners, a clinic opening this fall at the UW-Madison Law School, a statewide conference to train corrections officers on the unique needs of veterans in the criminal justice system and a commitment to create the first model court in Rock County this August.

Mental Health Parity

Working against the historical stigma arising from ignorance about mental illness, common misunderstandings and fears and anachronistic assumptions about treatment, Lt. Governor Lawton joined forces with Wisconsin’s Department of Veterans Affairs and many other organizations and individuals to bring compelling data and a solid argument to convince legislators to pass Senate Bill 375 to establish mental health parity in health care coverage.

Personal anecdotes from vulnerable veterans revealed systemic failures. We could see that an untenable absence of public infrastructure of care clearly leads to sidelining talent we need and too often criminalizing illness.

More than 600 advocates from public, private and non-profit sectors visited every state legislator to say Wisconsin no longer needed to suffer tremendous loss of talent and productivity at great expense to our state’s economy and to families everywhere.

Unfortunately, the state bill did not receive a public hearing in then Republican-controlled Assembly. However, this groundswell grassroots network compelled action at the federal level in October 2008 resulting in a new federal Mental Health Parity law.

National Leadership with the National Lieutenant Governors Association

Lt. Governor Lawton and many of her colleagues sponsored resolutions to lead efforts in their respective states to address the needs of veterans and their families.

Lt. Governor Lawton co-sponsored a resolution to Improve Outreach to Veterans and Their Families on Mental Health Issues and to Establish a National Military Family Relief Fund

Resources for Veterans

Click the link below to find an online listing of helpful links to resources for veterans.

http://ltgov.wisconsin.gov/category.asp?linkcatid=2199&linkid=1067&locid=126