When Governor Cuomo cut some of the veteran’s issues out of his 2020 budget, it hit Assemblyman Jake Ashby close to home.

Ashby, a veteran himself, served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Captain in the army reserve. He says last year's scholarships for gold star families aren’t in this year’s budget.

“Are we going to address this?” Ashby asked. “The governor said this was a priority and often says in his budgets that a budget is about priorities and why issues we may think don’t belong in the budget appear. Is this a priority or not, governor?”

 

Ashby went on to discuss the “Dwyer fund” which is peer-to-peer counseling for veterans. Money was also cut on that fund in the budget.

“This is a huge, huge issue for veterans coming back who are attempting to reintegrate, and their families,” said Ashby. “Again, we’re seeing that this has been cut and we have to go back and we have to fight for it.”