January 28, 2015

Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s First District and Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs sent a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald asking him to consider relocating the Veterans Affairs Regional Office from Reno to Las Vegas as the Department begins the process of simplifying its regional organizational structure. Since joining the VA Committee, Titus has focused on improving the Reno Regional Office, which is one of the most underperforming offices in the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) system.

“As the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, I am committed to ensuring Southern Nevada Veterans receive the benefits they've earned in a timely manner,” said Titus. “While the Reno RO has seen some improvements, the office continues to be plagued by deficiencies in leadership, poor customer service, and significant turnover of employees. Moving the Regional Office to Las Vegas will help to address many of these ongoing issues and will significantly benefit both veterans in Nevada and the VBA.”

The full text of the letter can be found here:

January 28, 2015

Dear Secretary McDonald, 

I am encouraged that you are taking steps to reorganize and streamline the current disjointed and confusing VA regional organizational structure. As I noted during our meeting on this subject, Nevada is currently split among three VISN’s and Las Vegas shares a VBA regional office with counties in Northern California. As we discussed, simplifying this regional structure will improve services and reduce confusion for veterans.

As this process continues, I respectfully request that you consider my earlier appeal to relocate the Reno Regional Office to Las Vegas. As you know, the Reno Regional office is one of the worst performing offices throughout VBA. It has been without a permanent Director for some time, and I am concerned that the current location of the office is detrimental to recruiting efforts, not only for leadership positions but also staffing needs throughout all levels of personnel.  
Moving the RO to Las Vegas will significantly benefit both veterans in Nevada and the VBA. The Reno RO struggles to recruit highly qualified employees but when vacancies were posted for identical positions in Las Vegas, VBA received applications from experienced current VBA employees located throughout the United States.

Relocating the RO is a bipartisan issue, supported by our Republican Governor who resides in the northern part of our state. 

I appreciate your attention to this issue and look forward to continuing to work with you on behalf of our nation’s heroes. You are welcome in Las Vegas any time. 

Sincerely,

Dina Titus

Ranking Member – Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs