VA Loan Updates

It’s hard to have an objective debate about the “ultimate sacrifice,” but lawmakers need to do just that with a proposal from state Rep. Steve Wieckert, R-Appleton.

Wieckert will offer a bill next month that gives state businesses a one-time $8,000 tax break for hiring military veterans. The feeling is that young adults just discharged from the service can be less-attractive job candidates for a number of reasons, whether it’s because they suffered severe injuries in combat or don’t have as much training as others who have gone to college.

Wieckert’s recognized a problem few see: the 21.5 percent unemployment rate for state veterans between the ages of 20-24, according to U.S. Census figures. And it’s admirable that he’d like to do something for the roughly 1,500 unemployed Wisconsin veterans in that age range.

But if this bill gets every single one of them hired, the state stands to lose about $12 million in tax revenue. That’s not peanuts.

And when one considers that the bill would apply to about 276,000 state veterans 64 years old or younger — although only about 6 percent of them are unemployed, same as the overall state average — that figure stands to skyrocket.

Unfortunately, Wieckert’s bill is little more than a feel-good measure in a time of war that won’t face much opposition because no one can argue against any benefit the state gives veterans who risk giving the “ultimate sacrifice”: their lives.

But veterans aren’t neglected by the state. They get tuition at any University of Wisconsin System institution, as do the families of veterans killed or disabled. They get special terms for home loans. Reservists get state income tax exemptions for pay earned on active duty and receive state money to make up the difference between their civilian and military earnings while serving. And none of that takes into account federal and military benefits, such as the Montgomery GI Bill.

If we separate emotion from the discussion, if we put aside the gratitude and respect we all have for those brave enough to shoulder a pack or fire a weapon, and look at the proposal on its own merits, it may be more than Wisconsin can responsibly afford to do for its veterans.

Found here.

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