Creation of the new veterans affairs department comes after state officials paid millions to settle lawsuits over hundreds of pandemic deaths in state-run veterans homes. (Photo by Edwin J. Torres/Governor’s Office)
Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law Thursday that establishes a new cabinet-level New Jersey Department of Veterans Affairs, separating housing, health care, and other benefits for veterans and their families from an existing state department that also handled military readiness and National Guard operations.
The move comes after state officials paid millions to settle lawsuits over hundreds of pandemic deaths in state-run veterans homes. The deaths prompted both federal and state investigations, which led the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office to order reforms and expanded oversight for care they deemed so abysmal that it violated residents’ constitutional rights.
The law, which is set to take effect in 120 days, reorganizes the existing Department of Military and Veterans Affairs into two entities — the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Military Affairs.
Murphy plans to nominate Vincent Solomeno, now a deputy commissioner in the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and a former superintendent of the National Guard Training Center in Sea Girt, to be commissioner of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Col. Yvonne Mays is adjutant general of New Jersey and commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)
Brigadier General Yvonne L. Mays, the adjutant general of New Jersey and commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, will remain commissioner of the Department of Military Affairs.
Sens. Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex County) was a chief sponsor of the law.
“Veterans need to know their voices are being heard and their needs prioritized. This bill reflects that commitment by giving them a dedicated seat at the table and a department that works only for them,” Vitale said in a statement.
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