Boston Council Panel Warns Federal VA Cuts Threaten PACT Act Services for Veterans

BOSTON — March 21, 2025 — Boston's City Council veterans panel warns federal VA cuts endanger services promised under the PACT Act. Councillor Edward M. Flynn, chair of the Committee on Veterans and Military Families, led a Friday hearing with three open dockets covering women veterans' services, new VA cancer presumptions, and elevated lung cancer rates among Black veterans. Commissioner Rob Santiago of the Boston Office of Veteran Services said proposed cuts to more than 80,000 VA jobs send a "mixed message" to veterans who enrolled in VA programs after 2022. Dr. Renda Wiener of VA Boston and Boston University reported that 8,000 veterans are diagnosed with lung cancer each year and 5,000 die from it annually — roughly 15 per day — with Black veterans at the highest risk of any demographic group and fewer than 20 percent of eligible Americans ever screened. Wiener's VetPeerConnect study, developed with Black veterans including community advocate Haywood Fennell, has brought lung cancer screening outreach to neighborhoods including Roxbury's Nubian Square rather than waiting for veterans to seek out VA facilities. Veterans can reach the Boston Office of Veteran Services at veterans@boston.gov or 617-635-3026.