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Missouri’s Veterans Deserve Better

The Missouri Association of Veterans Organizations (MAVO) is once again fully engaged in monitoring, reporting, and fighting for legislative action that protects and strengthens the lives of Missouri’s veterans, service members, and their families. As Missouri’s unified coalition of congressionally chartered veteran service organizations, MAVO stands as the statewide watchdog ensuring lawmakers do not ignore or undermine the needs of those who served.

Our Mission This Session MAVO is returning to the Capitol with renewed urgency and a clear message: Missouri veterans will not be sidelined, dismissed, or forgotten. We are tracking every bill, every committee movement, and every vote that affects veteran benefits, healthcare access, survivor support, and quality of life.

Veterans have earned more than symbolic gestures. They deserve meaningful action — and MAVO is here to make sure they get it.

A Disappointing Reality: Governor Mike Kehoe’s Silence This year, MAVO must also speak plainly about a major concern shared across Missouri’s veteran community: Governor Mike Kehoe’s lack of support for critical veteran legislation.

When Missouri veterans needed leadership, the Governor chose not to stand with us. His absence on key issues has left thousands of veterans questioning why their sacrifices are not being matched with advocacy from the state’s highest office.

MAVO does not take this disappointment lightly. Veterans deserve a Governor who shows up — not one who stays silent.

Your Voice Matters — Make It Heard MAVO urges every veteran, family member, caregiver, and supporter to contact Governor Kehoe directly and demand that he take a clear, public stance in support of Missouri’s veterans.

Tell him: • Veterans are watching. • Veterans are organizing. • Veterans expect action — not excuses.

Your call, email, or letter can make a difference. Missouri’s leaders must be reminded that veterans are not a constituency to be ignored.

Standing United for Missouri’s Veterans MAVO will continue to fight, track legislation, and hold elected officials accountable. We are back at it — stronger, louder, and more determined than ever.

Missouri’s veterans deserve respect, representation, and results. MAVO is here to deliver exactly that.

Governor OfficeVeteran Committee

Announcements

 MAVO Announcement: Standing Up for Missouri’s Combat‑Injured Veterans

MAVO is calling on Missouri’s federal delegation to take immediate action on the Major Richard Star Act. Combat‑injured retirees have waited long enough for justice, and Missouri’s veterans will not accept funding schemes that harm future generations. Our official message to Congress is posted below — we urge all veterans and supporters to read it and contact their elected officials to demand fair treatment for those wounded in service.

 

To the Missouri Federal Delegation,

Combat‑injured medical retirees deserve full military retirement pay and full VA disability compensation. There should be no offset, and Congress must identify a responsible funding source that does not restrict future veterans’ access to earned benefits. Congress used emergency funding to send these men and women to war — it can find responsible funding to honor them now.

Missouri is proud of its veterans, but pride alone is not enough. The Major Richard Star Act corrects a long‑standing injustice. Combat‑injured Chapter 61 retirees didn’t choose to leave early. Their careers were cut short because they were wounded in combat. They earned their retirement. They earned their disability compensation. And they should receive both — without losing one dollar to an unfair offset often called the "wounded warrior tax.”

Passing the Major Richard Star Act is essential — but it is only half the responsibility. Congress must not pay for this fix by narrowing future VA disability rules. Proposals tied to TCAVA — especially changes to tinnitus, sleep apnea, or other VA rating criteria — would harm the next generation of veterans. Protecting current beneficiaries is not enough. We must also protect the young Missourian in basic training today, the Guardsman preparing for deployment, and the future veteran whose conditions may worsen years after service.

Every generation of veterans has had to fight for recognition. Vietnam veterans fought for acknowledgment of Agent Orange. Gulf War veterans fought to have undiagnosed illnesses taken seriously. Post‑9/11 veterans fought for recognition of toxic exposures, traumatic brain injuries, and burn‑pit illnesses.

They did not fight those battles so future veterans could be told, "The rules are different now because Washington needed an offset.”

Congress did not hesitate to use emergency funding to send Americans into combat. It should not hesitate to find responsible funding to fix an injustice created by those same combat deployments. Veterans should not be forced to pay for the solution to a problem Congress created.

Missouri’s message is clear and bipartisan:

• Pass the Major Richard Star Act. • End the wounded warrior tax — no offset. • Protect current VA disability beneficiaries. • Preserve a fair, evidence‑based claims process for future veterans. • Reject any funding scheme that pits one generation of veterans against another. • Require Congress to find a responsible funding source — just as it did when it sent these men and women to war.

Combat‑injured retirees need relief now. Future veterans need a fair system later. We do not have to choose between them — and we should not.

Missouri Association of Veterans Organizations (MAVO) Unified Statewide Advocacy for Missouri’s Veterans

 



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Missouri Association of Veteran Organizations (MAVO)

The Missouri Association of Veteran Organizations (MAVO) is committed to advancing the interests and well‑being of Missouri’s veterans and their families through unified advocacy, strategic collaboration, and responsible civic engagement. We work to shape and support legislation that strengthens access to benefits, enhances quality of life, and upholds the dignity of those who have served. By bringing together veteran service organizations across the state, MAVO provides a coordinated voice in public policy discussions, ensuring that the needs and sacrifices of Missouri’s veterans are recognized, respected, and addressed through effective and equitable laws.
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