Port St. Lucie News Ft. That money would have allowed the VA to hire and train more claims workers. Weldon was one of six Florida representatives who voted against it. That the Florida delegation should have given the Foley proposal unanimous support is beyond doubt. Nationally, the average VA delay in processing claims during 2000 was 173 days.
More veterans live in our state than any other save California.
Yet the VA has only one Florida claims-processing center, in Bay Pines near St. Petersburg. All of it is targeted for speeding up the processing of claims. But that money is to be spread around VA claims centers all over the country. The VA s own figures bear him out. The agency, under its new secretary, Anthony Principi, wants to reduce the average claims-handling time to 74 days.