Gov. moves to ease vets' claims backlog

HOUSTON (AP) - Gov. Rick Perry is allocating nearly $400,000 from his office to pay for up to a dozen new counselors to accelerate benefits claims processing for Texas veterans.

The state's two regional Department of Veterans Affairs offices in Houston and Waco have more than 39,000 backlogged claims. That also makes them among the most backlogged offices in the nation.

In Houston, where Perry made the announcement Thursday at an American Legion hall, 41 percent of the claims from veterans have been pending for more than four months.

The additional counselors from the Texas Veterans Commission will make sure applications are complete and correct and find information that may be slowing the process.

The governor said the move is the state's offer of a "hand out to a federal agency that we feel we can assist."