House, Senate sign off on omnibus veterans and military affairs agreement

It may not be marched to the governor’s office, but heading there is an agreement that would provide a $50.5 million increase over base for veterans and military affairs funding and make a handful of policy changes.

The House passed the conference committee report to HF2444/SF1959* Saturday. The 130-0 vote came a couple hours after the Senate did the same 45-19.

Sen. Aric Putnam (DFL-St. Cloud) sponsors the bill that would spend $365.23 million from the General Fund in the 2026-27 biennium. “We did good work; we helped people. … We have kept our promises to all who have served and all who will serve.”

Rep. Matt Bliss (R-Pennington) is the House sponsor.

“The final version of this bill reflects the best outcome we could responsibly achieve in a tough budget year,” he said in a statement. “We fought to protect core priorities, like fully funding our veteran homes and expanding suicide prevention efforts. It’s not the bill we would’ve written in a better fiscal environment, but it's a meaningful step in the right direction that honors our service members and their families. 

[MORE: View agreement and change-only spreadsheets; policy agreement]

Among the proposed finance increases are $39.17 million to support operations at the state’s eight veterans homes, $8 million to maintain enlistment and retention bonuses, operating adjustments for the Veterans Affairs ($1.19 million) and Military Affairs ($599,000) departments, $300,000 to increase suicide prevention and $300,000 to expand home-delivered meals to veterans, including in Greater Minnesota.

“We put up three new veterans home in the last biennium and we want to make sure that those are staffed. So we fully staff those, and our veterans are really getting the care they need,” said Rep. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger (DFL-Woodbury). “… To prevent any sort of federal clawback and making sure we get the federal funding that we need, we need the people in the beds. To get people in the beds we need to have the staffing.”

[MORE: Veterans conferees sign off on $50 million funding increase, policy changes]

Policy in the agreement includes:

• granting veteran status under state law to certain people who served with secret guerilla units or other irregular forces in Laos in support of the United States between Feb. 28, 1961, and May 14, 1975;
• increasing the maximum bonded indebtedness allowed for the State Armory Building Commission from $15 million to $45 million;
• adding 5% to a service member base pay as a pension offset if the member is activated for state active duty;
• requiring placement of a memorial plaque in the Court of Honor to recognize the service and sacrifices of Minnesota’s Gold Star and Blue Star families; and
• allowing surviving spouses of service members who die because of their military service to remain eligible to use the service member’s education benefits even if the surviving spouse remarries.