[img_assist|nid=1589|title=Pryor, Garland, Cordray, Pillich, Stewart at the Statehouse|desc=Politicker Photo|link=none|align=left|width=420|height=205]COLUMBUS - Democrats pushed veterans' bonuses as a prime political issue a month before Election Day during a press conference at the Veterans Plaza at the Statehouse.

State Treasurer Richard Cordray, who's running for attorney general, was joined by four Democratic state House candidates: Ray Pryor of Chillicothe, Connie Pillich of Montgomery, Nancy Garland of New Albany and Jennifer Stewart of Zanesville. All said that if Democrats take the state House they will vote to authorize a ballot referendum that will decide whether the state should give bonuses to veterans of the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

The bill was passed by the state Senate last winter but was held up in the GOP-controlled state House this year, past the deadline for the issue to go on this fall's ballot.

"But let's make sure that our veterans and their families and the communities in Ohio they went to war to protect know that instead of acting quickly to put the measure on the ballot, the House has allowed it 246 days later still to remain sitting unheard in committee," Cordray said.

Gulf War veterans would be given $700 while Iraq and Afghanistan veterans would receive $1,000. Families of those killed in action from those wars would be given $5,000.

Pryor works with a non-profit group that assists veterans and said that these bonuses would help vets readjust to civilian life.

"Just this morning I had a veteran call me for rent assistance," Pryor said. "This bonus would have given that veteran that money to pay rent on that money."

House Speaker Jon Husted has said opposition to the bonus came from not wanting to add to the state's debt.

Cordray said the House was only voting to put the issue before voters, not approve bonuses itself. In addition, the plan would cost $200 million over multiple years and be paid for by the issuance of state bonds.

Pillich said the Republican House's inaction is "disgusting."

"That's an insult to every man and woman who has ever put a uniform on in the state of Ohio," she said. "The Republican leadership is sending a message that you do not matter."

Pillich said she is a Gulf War veteran who worked as a recruiter in the United States and Germany.