Veteran advocates push for legislative action on services

Gov. Mike Pence's focus on a plan to certify veteran-owned businesses isn't enough response to reports that Indiana is lacking in services for former members of the military, four of the state's largest veterans' organizations said Friday.

Members of the groups vented their frustrations with the state's services for the nearly 476,000 veterans in Indiana and what they perceive as the Legislature's complacency during a news conference Friday.

A proposed bill would streamline the process for veteran-owned businesses to get business contracts more easily, something lobbyist Lisa Wilken with the support group American Veterans said would help that specific group, but doesn't address a larger number of military members. She also said her group—as well as other groups — attempted to meet with Pence's staff to talk about different ideas for legislation, but received no feedback.