State Assembly implementing Tedisco’s initiative to enable veterans to

participate in annual legislative internship program

Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R,C,I-Glenville) today announced that the New York State Assembly is implementing his initiative to recruit veterans and members of the military who are enrolled in college to serve in the 2015 legislative internship program.

On February 4, 2014, Tedisco held a press conference with his colleagues and several veterans calling on the Assembly to set aside a minimum of 10 percent of the current Internship program positions for veterans, specifically service-disabled veterans, to apply to be part of this first-in-the-nation pilot initiative (G.I.V.E. Back NY—Giving Internships to Veterans not fully Employed).  Every member of the Assembly Republican Conference signed a letter to Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Intern Chair Deborah Glick calling for implementation of G.I.V.E. Back NY (See attached).

Since then, the Assembly has reached out to military affairs offices at college campuses across New York to recruit military and veteran students to become Assembly interns for the 2015 session and is now reviewing applications.  The Assembly will pay these interns a stipend of $4,900. Attached is a photo of a poster the Assembly Intern Committee has distributed to colleges campuses.

“We truly owe our veterans everything we hold dear as Americans: all of our freedoms, liberties and relative safety that we enjoy are thanks to the service of our veterans. Who better than our veterans and our wounded warriors to see the inner workings of the republic and representative democracy they put their lives on the line for, to the extent that some must now have to deal with a life-long disability,” said Tedisco. “As our veterans learn about state government, my colleagues and I and our other college interns will learn from them about honor, duty, courage, and perseverance against the enemies of freedom and about the principles that make America great. This will also give our veterans significant experience to put on their resumes for future long-term employment.”

Tedisco and state Senator Bill Larkin (R,C-Cornwall on Hudson) are sponsoring legislation to set aside a minimum of 10 percent of internship slots for disabled veterans and 10 percent for other veterans (A.9774/S.7626) and include a stipend of $11,500 – the highest current pay level for interns.

“While I applaud the implementation of this program, the Assembly should raise the bar even higher by paying veterans at the highest possible level and setting aside a minimum of 10 percent of internship slots for veterans and another 10 percent for disabled veterans, who are not necessarily matriculated in a college program but are just as deserving of an opportunity to see first-hand how their state government works,” said Tedisco.

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