Checks on the way for veterans

PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael Lamendola

Starting in June, Uncle Sam will give eligible veterans and their survivors a one-time payment of $250 to help them through the recession, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., announced on Friday.

The payment will be automatically mailed to them or deposited directly into their bank accounts, according to Bethany Lesser of Gillibrand’s office. “It should just appear. They don’t have to do anything,” she said.

The money comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

To be eligible for the payment, a veteran or survivor must have received compensation, pension, dependency and indemnity compensation or spina bifida benefits between November 2008 and January 2009. Also, beneficiaries must reside within the United States or Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Lesser said veterans and survivors do not have to apply for the money. The Veterans Administration will use its existing payment records to determine who is eligible to receive the $250 payment, Lesser said.

Lesser said the $250 payment will not count toward determining eligibility for a VA pension or for calcuating a parent’s dependency and indemnity compensation rate. Also, the Internal Revenue Service cannot tax the payment, she said.

Gillibrand’s office also announced that the Stratton VA Medical Center in Albany will receive $16 million to upgrade its facilities. The money also comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The medical center will use the money to remove asbestos, renovate and upgrade the dental suite, renovate and expand the prosthetics unit, replace windows and demolish buildings 6, 7, 11 and 35 and for other repairs.