Gov. Tony Evers visited the Wisconsin Veterans Home here Tuesday to sign two bills designed to help military members and their families land jobs.

Officials said Assembly Bill 720 helps military medical personnel transfer their skills to health care jobs, while Senate Bill 602 guarantees in-state college tuition discounts for military members and their families who are relocated out of state.

Joined by state Veterans Affairs Secretary Mary Kolar, Evers signed both measures into law before a cheering crowd of staff and others at the Racine County veterans home near Union Grove.

“Our service members and their families give so much in service to our country,” the governor said. “And they exemplify some of the best of what Wisconsin has to offer.”

Evers and Kolar both said the new laws would help veterans and their families to advance their education and find jobs, while also addressing a shortage of workers in Wisconsin, especially in the health care industry.

“This is a win for all of us,” Kolar said. “This is a win for Wisconsin.”

Joining in the bill-signing ceremony was Niko Ruud, a U.S. Air Force captain who is transitioning out of the service and looking ahead to his life as a veteran.

Ruud told those in attendance that finding work after getting out of the military is a common challenge that leaves him and other veterans “scratching their heads.”

“There’s a lot of challenges,” he said.

Assembly Bill 720, now known as Wisconsin Act 158, is designed to provide a pathway for military medical personnel to use their skills and training in healthcare jobs. Officials said it “builds off” a $100,000 effort to develop a program making military training and credentials transferrable to civilian job credentials.

Senate Bill 605, now Wisconsin Act 159, guarantees in-state tuition for military members, spouses or children at either the University of Wisconsin System or the Wisconsin Technical College System, regardless of whether the military has transferred them out of state.

Kolar said helping medical veterans to find healthcare jobs will stem the loss of such talented people, who often end up finding jobs in neighboring states instead.

“It can happen now in Wisconsin,” the secretary said.

After the bill-signing ceremony in Boland Hall, Evers told reporters that it was his decision to sign the bills in the Racine County facility.

Evers called the Dover home an appropriate setting to call attention to the needs of veterans.

“It’s an opportunity for us to raise this issue up,” he said, “and it’s an opportunity to visit this facility.”

Source: https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/at-dover-veterans-home-evers-signs-bills-to-help-vets-stay-in-school-find-jobs/article_1d36996f-48c5-517d-8ae3-0a53419b3253.html