PROBLEM STATEMENTS:

OPERATION HOPE FOR VETERANS – As the next potential Governor of the State of Tennessee, I will address tax freezes, displacement, housing, mental health, and workforce development regarding my sisters and brothers who are veterans. I have supported veterans for the last 40 years, donating food, clothing, household items, and securing housing for them.

(a) Tennessee veterans are concerned and outraged over the Trump Administration’s proposal to lay off 80,000 employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The cuts are part of the administration’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce, which will further exacerbate the care and treatment of veterans. Nevertheless, the government should increase the number of employees and offices to help veterans obtain their benefits.``

“The veterans services for us were bad enough as it was,” said Air Force veteran Marty Ness-White. “Their first job feels like to say no to all claims.”

(b) Under Atwater’s administration, veterans enlisted in the military were proud to serve our country. After their service, they should not have to fight for our own health care. They should not have to fight to save the lives of their fellow veterans because the system meant to protect them is failing.

(c) Far too long, in the State of Tennessee, workers at the VA hospitals find themselves on the phone trying to prevent veterans from taking their own lives because they cannot access the care they desperately need. Every day, veterans slip into homelessness because the promises made to them went unfulfilled. This is not how service should be repaid to the veterans of Tennessee.

(d) Veterans across the country, especially in Tennessee, are facing a growing crisis in their healthcare and services. Under Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, in partnership with billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the VA targeted 30,000 federal jobs, many held by veterans. Since January 2025, thousands of critical staff, including doctors and nurses, have left the VA, worsening long-standing problems of staffing shortages, waiting times, and denied claims.

(e) Collins has also attempted to invalidate collective bargaining agreements that protect federal workers in the workplace and impact the quality of our care. Before taking the job, Collins was a major ally of a billionaire-funded effort to further increase reliance of the VA on private healthcare, benefiting corporations instead of investing in our public healthcare system.

(f) When veterans try to file a claim or even seek a diagnosis at the VA, every step matters. You might have a recurring condition, but after months of waiting, your appointment finally arrives on a day when you happen to feel slightly “okay” or are not showing symptoms due to months of waiting for an appointment. That single “okay” or good day can set you back, forcing you to start the process over again just to get the needed care or continue with the same treatment or medical practice. The VA delivers medical care through a step-by-step escalation process, but these steps are slippery and dimly lit, leading to delayed care for our veterans.

(g) Imagine all of this compounded by VA staffing cuts, which cause longer wait times, hours on hold, the loss of key personnel who help veterans access care, and long trips to Nashville to see a specialist, only to have your travel pay denied.

(h) The care we subject our veterans to is inhumane and horrible. Their service and sacrifices have earned them broken promises and broken systems. Elected officials with short-term memory seem to remember veterans only at election time or on Veterans Day. Veterans are left asking: what happened to ‘never forget’?

(i) Millions of veterans were exposed to burn pits. The VA created the Burn Pit Registry to track and compile data on troops affected by these toxic exposures because, frankly, no one yet knows the long-term impact or the care they will need. A stripped-down VA in the future could be held accountable for failing to provide that care and protect our veterans.

(j) Yet five Tennessee members of Congress, U.S. Reps. Chuck Fleischmann, Mark Green, a graduate of West Point and a veteran, Diana Harshbarger, David Kustoff and John Rose, voted against the PACT Act, a law designed to provide health care and benefits to veterans exposed to toxic substances. The expansion of our VA clinic in Clarksville is a result of PACT Act funding.

(k) Veterans are dying every day, be it from illnesses exacerbated by long wait times or suicide. Now, on top of that, millions of Americans, including veterans, have also lost their SNAP food benefits. While working people face cuts, the wealthy and corporations won nearly $1 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade.

(l) Clarksville has always been a proud military town. With Fort Campbell in our backyard, Montgomery County has the highest veteran density in the state. Twenty percent of our residents have served in the military. They are more than veterans. They are your teachers, pastors, factory workers, and your friends. They raise families, coach Little League, volunteer in our churches, and contribute every day to the life of our communities.

(m) When veterans cannot get an appointment for months or can’t afford their groceries, their health worsens. When their travel pay is denied, they often skip care altogether. When forced into private networks, many of them give up in frustration. The result is not efficiency; it is neglect.

(n) Veterans have sacrificed enough, and my message will be clear as the next Governor of the State of Tennessee. Invest in veterans' care, not cuts.

(o) On Feb 24, 2025, the state Comptroller told the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee that the program will be broken in 2026, needing over $10 million just to keep the program operating under current law. That would be over $16 million, with the calculation fix for disabled vets. The program will be $19 million short in 2027, not counting the $6 million to fix the math.

Three outcomes exist at present:

1) Due to inaction in appropriating money by Gov. Lee and the legislature to fix the problem, future payments (starting with the next tax cycle) could be reduced by a percentage to accommodate the $41 million funding that has traditionally been given. This would mean about a 20% reduction (under current enrollment) in the reimbursements to disabled veterans…not including the additional “market value” deductions from those payments that TNVET is fighting to remove.

2) Gov. Lee could start meeting Comptroller projections and funding the budget to meet current state law. The Governor’s office has known, for at least 18 months, the program has been going under financially. We have seen no comment directly from Gov. Lee or his officials as to a relief plan or course of action, if any.

3). Gov. Lee could fund the program based on Comptroller needs and correct/eliminate the “market value” penalty placed on disabled veteran payments. In July 2023, Gov. Lee publicly stated that he wanted to “make Tennessee the best state in the nation for service members, veterans and their families to thrive”.  All 50 states provide a property tax reimbursement to qualified disabled veterans.  There are approximately 20 states providing programs that give 100% property tax reimbursements to 100% disabled vets (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia are examples in our region. Kentucky is working on such a law.)  Many states offer proportional property tax reimbursements for vets that have less than 100% total disability as little as 10%. It has been noted in national listings/articles on this benefit that Tennessee uses market value versus other states using the local appraised value (the penalty TNVET is working to eliminate). Compared to other states, Tennessee’s usage of market value adjustment, 100% disability requirement for any tax credit and amount of property value affected, places it roughly in the bottom 20% of the 50 state programs.

TNVET continually heard at House and Senate Committees that the state needs to take care of its veterans, especially during discussions of HB0436/SB0651 and others like bills that required funding. Veterans need to see that concern in action. If your House or Senate representative holds meetings over the summer, veterans need to ask them what they will do to get Gov. Lee onboard with fixing the program. The House sponsor of TNVET’s bill, Rep Crawford, has committed to helping us again for the next session.  We thank him and Senate sponsor, Sen Crowe, for their efforts! Better Health Record Management Service. DOGE Initiatives: Cutting Veteran Administration Healthcare Contracts. 80,000 VA Employees Layout

But veterans are right to pay attention to the proposals that keep resurfacing in budget discussions especially those that could take effect in or after 2026:

• Means-testing VA disability compensation

• Requiring a 30%+ rating to receive compensation

• 30% reduction at age 67 for veterans who start receiving benefits in 2026+

• Ending or limiting TDIU at age 67

• Potential taxation of VA disability compensation

• VA health care enrollment and cost changes (Priority Groups 7 & 8:CBO 60932; prescription copays: CBO 58670)

• Proposed VA rating schedule updates that could reduce future awards.

ATWATER'S GOAL AND STRATEGIES:

The respect and gratitude I have for veterans is undeniably what will make me a Governor of the people, especially veterans who have sacrificed their lives and families for our freedom. We must give them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness back.

(a) Place the concerns of veterans into actions. As the next potential Governor of the State of Tennessee, I will place veterans on my priority list to award their valor and contributions to this country and the State of Tennessee. In my book, there is no such thing as a second-class veteran.

(b) Give unhoused veterans their dignity back. No veterans in the State of Tennessee should be sleeping on the streets. I am committed to building affordable housing for our veterans. Creating safe living group quarters for a setting of veteran unity.

(c) Give 100% property tax reimbursements to 100% disabled vets.

(d) Offer proportional property tax reimbursements for vets that have less than 100% total disability, as little as 10%.

(e) Make this correction: Tennessee uses market value, whereas other states use the local appraised value.

(f) Correct/eliminate the “market value” penalty placed on disabled veteran payments.

(f) I will veto any bill that brings harm to veterans in the State of Tennessee.

• Means-testing VA disability compensation

• Requiring a 30%+ rating to receive compensation

• 30% reduction at age 67 for veterans who start receiving benefits in 2026+

• Ending or limiting TDIU at age 67

• Potential taxation of VA disability compensation

• VA health care enrollment and cost changes (Priority Groups 7 & 8:CBO 60932; prescription copays: CBO 58670)

• Proposed VA rating schedule updates that could reduce future awards.

(g) Promote legislation to honor and respect veterans in VA Hospitals to produce adequate veteran services and healthcare.

(h) I will collaborate with Alpha Omega Veterans Services and Veterans for All, organizing in Clarksville to protect their care and reject cuts to vital services. Their platform calls on major Clarksville corporations that receive millions in public subsidies and tax breaks to invest in veteran care, make binding commitments to hire veterans, and treat workers with dignity. They also urge our elected officials to oppose VA cuts and resist a shift toward privatized healthcare. I will bond with these organizations to stop cuts to veterans' benefits.

(i) I will not reward corporations with massive tax breaks while cutting services for veterans and working families. I will invest in the veterans who have already given so much for all of us.