State Leaders Push To Help Unemployed Vets
ST. PAUL (WCCO) -- On Veterans Day, state leaders are highlighting the need to help unemployed vets.
Minnesota has a high number of veterans out of work with 23 percent of post-9/11 service men and women are looking for jobs in Minnesota.
That is the third highest in the nation.
At the official state ceremony in Inver Grove Heights, Gov. Mark Dayton and Sen. Amy Klobuchar talked about efforts underway to help veterans looking for work.
Dayton said the state is working to expand Minnesota's GI Bill to assist with job training.
Klobuchar talked about legislation that just passed in the U.S. Senate Thursday with a vote of 94-1. She said the legislation would provide tax incentives to employers who hire veterans.
"While Minnesota does (do) so much better with our unemployment rate than so many other states in the country, we still have so much work to do when it comes to our veterans," she said. "The last people who should be standing in line to wait for a job are those that have served our country so bravely."
The bill still needs to pass in the House. Klobuchar said it does have bi-partisan support.
The bill comes at a time when the U.S. is about to welcome home nearly 40,000 troops from Iraq.
