In the midst of summer, it’s hard to think ahead to the cold winter months of 2027. As the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) reflects on our accomplishments from the 2026 Legislative session, we also are starting to envision our priorities for the next year.

We recognized our largest 2026 Legislative accomplishment on June 9 as Governor Tim Walz hosted a ceremonial bill signing of the fifth annual Veterans and Military Affairs Omnibus Bill. We were joined by numerous Veteran community members and stakeholders, most notably many from the Vietnam-era Veterans of the Special Guerrilla Units and Irregular Forces in Laos. Our Southeast Asian neighbors have advocated for select Veterans’ benefits for many years and we were proud to celebrate the legislation that recognizes their service.

For five years now, the Veterans and Military Affairs Omnibus Bills have provided an historic investment in MDVA programs and services and reinforced that Minnesota Veterans are a priority. The omnibus bills are now a precedent, and we expect them to continue for many years to come.

The Veterans and Military Affairs Omnibus Bill combine the language from five individual Veterans bills into one and was passed without any no votes for the first time. The benefit of an omnibus bill is that it avoids tying Veterans funding and policy items into more partisan bills and therefore puts at risk the passage of this important legislation.

The major components of the Omnibus bill include:

• Establishing the Minnesota Commanders’ Task Force into state statute.
• Modifying eligibility in State Veterans Cemeteries to allow National Guard members, their spouses and dependent children to be buried beginning on January 1, 2027.
• Enacting the recommendations made by the Veterans of the Special Guerrilla Units and Irregular Forces in the Laos Task Force.

In addition to the omnibus bill, we also appreciated the unanimous passage of several MDVA policy bills introduced this session. Most importantly, the Veteran Organization Partner Support bill now allows non-monetary Agency resources to be utilized to support partner organizations. These bills in addition to the omnibus bill provisions and bonding bill make this a very successful session for Minnesota’s Veterans.

One other Veteran provision was also passed into law that establishes a statewide process to provide high school diplomas to Veterans from the Korean War and Vietnam War eras if they enlisted prior to completing their education.

MDVA is also pleased that the Legislature approved more than $77 million in investments supporting MDVA facilities and infrastructure across the state, including:

• $15 million for agency-wide asset preservation for the Veterans Homes and State Cemeteries.
• $45.172 million in repurposed bonding funds for the Hastings Domiciliary Veterans Home campus to support the design, construction, furnishing and equipping of renovations.
• $17.2 million in repurposed bonding funds to renovate Building 16 on the Minneapolis campus which houses the Domiciliary program.

The Hastings funds had originally passed in the 2023 bonding bill and allowed for a full tear down and rebuild at Hastings. Because securing the Federal Matching funds for that project seems unlikely, instead we will now be able to do significant renovations at both domiciliary facilities with these repurposed funds. Our 150 Residents at these two locations will very much appreciate updated living quarters.

We have already begun to identify policy items and financial requests for the 2027 Legislative session.

If you need information or support on any Veteran issue, please visit our website, contact your County Veterans Service Officer or contact LinkVet at 1-888-LinkVet.

Thank YOU for your service!