(The Center Square) – A new bill to prevent the closure of two veterans’ homes is now on the table in Wisconsin.
The legislation would restore $1.9 million to the Veteran Housing and Recovery Program that was ultimately rejected during the biennial budget process.
As a result, two housing locations in Chippewa Falls and Green Bay, that house 23 and about 17 homeless veterans respectively, are set to close by September.
“Assembly Democrats offered Republicans plenty of opportunities to fund the VHRP and ensure that the essential services of the centers it funds can continue,” bill co-author Rep. Ryan Spaude, D-Ashwaubenon, said in a statement. “Now we are seeing the direct consequences of inaction from our legislative majorities in Green Bay.”
The VHRP provides temporary housing, job training and support services to homeless military veterans, according to a statement by Sen. Jeff Smith, D-Brunswick.
The program helps secure permanent housing, increase their income and skills, and self-sufficiency to reintegrate into communities.
During the budget process, Senate Democrats introduced Senate Amendment 10 to Senate Substitute Amendment 2 to fund VHRP.
It was rejected by the Wisconsin state Senate by a margin of one vote, 17-16.
Sen. Andre Jacque, R-New Franken, was the only Republican to vote with all Democrats to keep the amendment.
Jacque previously told The Center Square that the funding could have been amended to the budget, had Democrats not “voted for the budget in greater numbers than required for it to pass, which greatly reduced the leverage of legislators like myself to insist on its inclusion in the budget.”
A spokesperson for Jacque’s office declined to say whether he would support the Democrats’ new bill to keep the facilities open.
Democratic legislators are seeking co-sponsorship to the bill before the September 30 deadline, when the Green Bay and Chippewa Falls facilities are set to close.
