Mason to Launch Veterans’ Advisory Council

GURNEE, Ill. – State Rep. Joyce Mason, D-Gurnee, is inviting residents to attend the first meeting of her Veterans’ Advisory Council on Zoom at 6 p.m. on Monday. Mason is creating the council with the goal of identifying problems facing local veterans and developing legislative solutions to those issues.

“Too often, veterans return home from the military and feel left behind by a country they risked everything for,” Mason said. “We have some incredibly helpful veterans’ programs that assist veterans in their transition to life after service, but there is still a lot of room for improvement as far as making sure every veteran is able to get the help they need.”

Mason has a long history of fighting for the needs of veterans.  Mason has spent the last year and a half advocating for her Veterans Bill of Rights Act, a measure that increases veterans’ access to mental health care and develops a plan for ending veterans’ homelessness in three years. Mason also passed her House Bill 1290 this spring. If signed into law, House Bill 1290 will restore state benefits to LGBTQ veterans who have been previously denied access to them solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“I have had the great pleasure of working on a variety of veterans’ bills during my time in the legislature. I’m proud to have gotten many of those measures passed out of the General Assembly, and I am eager to continue working on the ones we weren’t able to pass,” Mason said. “With this council, I’m looking forward to hearing feedback from local veterans about the bills I have worked on so far as well as to coming up with new ideas for legislation to improve veterans’ services at the state and local levels.”

All veterans, their families and other interested residents living in Mason’s district are invited to attend Mason’s Veterans’ Advisory Council meeting. RSVPs are encouraged but not required. To RSVP, please call 847-485-9986 or email Info@RepJoyceMason.com. To join the meeting by video, please use the following link https://us06web.zoom.us/j/91380695724. To join by phone, please dial 312-626-6799 and enter meeting ID 913-8069-5724.