On Tuesday, the House Veterans and Military Affairs committee held a hearing on HF 2086, the Veterans and Military Affairs finance and policy bill. It was approved by the committee and re-referred to the Ways and Means committee. The bill is expected to be combined with the State Government Finance omnibus bill.

The bill features 11 components. The first two fund MDVA and the department of Military Affairs. MDVA’s funding request was met in this bill and even had more money to fund additional programs and services.

The other nine pieces of this bill are the inclusion of the following bills that were heard by the committee:

• HF 143 is authored by Chair Rob Ecklund, it appropriates money for the Armed Forces Service Center at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport so that the center can replace furniture and beds for users of the facility.
• HF 203 gives county Veterans service officers and county assessors permission to share data in order to administrate the exclusion. This is authored by Rep. Marion O’Neill and is also included in the Property Tax Division report, which will become a part of the tax bill.
• The omnibus includes a modified version of HF 430, authored by Rep. Jay Xiong. It appropriates money for a Veterans justice grant program. The money used will support Veterans through education, outreach and legal training for those involved in the criminal justice system.
• HF 889 is also authored by Rep. Xiong. It revises the definition of “Veteran” for purposes of Minnesota GI Bill benefits. It better aligns the statutory definition of Veteran with the program. This change is technical and does not expand or restrict the program.
• HF 998 is authored by Chair Ecklund. It provides sentencing guidelines for Veterans charged with criminal offenses related to a service-related disorder.
• HF 1189 is also authored by Chair Ecklund. It funds the Care Management, Outreach, Referral, and Education (C.O.R.E.) program that is administrated by Lutheran Social Services through a grant from MDVA.
• HF 1773 is authored by Rep. Bob Dettmer. It would give funding for a memorial commemorating Minnesota Medal of Honor recipients. The funding would only be accessible if a certain threshold of private donations are raised.
• HFs 1958 and 1959 are both authored by Rep. Ecklund, they are MDVA sponsored initiatives. The first bill allows the agency to use funds to contract with publicity representatives. The second seeks to clarify the duties of the commissioner to implement the programs of MDVA, Programs and Services, and the Minnesota Veterans Homes. This is solely a technical change.