Texas is home to more than 1.7 million veterans
MCALLEN, TEXAS (AP) -- Texas has more than 1.7 million military veterans and nine Veterans Affairs hospitals.
For decades veterans along the U.S.-Mexico border have had to travel five hours to San Antonio for many medical procedures. Texas voters tomorrow could enlist the state's aid in establishing more VA hospitals with Proposition 8. The ballot measure would allow the state to partner with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to build hospitals in Texas.
State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. co-sponsored the plan. Lucio says Prop 8 comes at a time when the Texas veterans population has grown and medical services are needed. In January the VA announced that it will open a $40 million clinic at the University of Texas Regional Medical Education Center in Harlingen.
-- Proposition 6, another veteran-related measure on the upcoming ballot, would allow the state to continue issuing bonds for the veterans home loan program that provides low-interest loans for land, homes or home renovations. It reappears on the ballot every couple of years.
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