The Minnesota Legislature finalized its budget work on Wednesday, June 30 after 16 days of special session, in addition to regular session spanning over four months. The governor then signed each budget bill avoiding a July 1 government shutdown.

The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) received its funding in Special Session Senate File (SSSF 2), the State Government Finance and Policy bill.

Both divisions of MDVA (Veterans Homes and Programs and Services) were fully funded. There was also money to for two new priorities within the agency, including the Veterans Suicide Prevention Office and a remembrance for the 20th anniversary of the attacks of September 11. The unit tasked with preventing and ending Veterans homelessness in Minnesota also received more funding to combat this issue. The three new Veterans homes in Bemidji, Montevideo and Preston received funding to staff each home with construction slated to begin in the coming weeks. Finally, the legislature funded a state match with the federal government to build a new Veterans cemetery in Redwood County. This is the last planned Veterans cemetery in the state that would ensure Veterans have a cemetery within 75 miles no matter where they live.

There were a handful of MDVA policy items in SSSF 2, which needed no funding for enactment. The items include:

• Technical changes to the Minnesota GI Bill
• Authorizing MDVA to provide adult day care services
• Authorizing MDVA to provide dental services to residents of Minnesota Veterans Homes
• Adding MDVA to the list of exempted agencies who can contract with external publicity representatives
• Authorizing MDVA to establish a Veterans stable housing initiative for homeless Veterans. Allowing private data on individuals maintained in the Homeless Veteran Registry to be shared with members of the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness and Homeless Veteran Registry partners to expedite the coordination of homeless efforts.
• Adding “Prevention and” to Veterans Suicide Prevention and Awareness Day, which is observed on the first Saturday in October.
• Allowed MDVA to accept funding from the federal government to build the previously mentioned new Veterans homes.

Another policy item that was included in the State Government Finance bill was the Veterans Restorative Justice Act. This establishes a diversion sentencing option for Veterans that meet certain service-connected conditions. Veterans must prove that the condition lead them to commit the charged crime. This has been a priority of Veterans groups since 2017 with a bill first receiving introduction in 2019.

Other funding items were included in bills separate from SSSF 2. In the Jobs Finance bill, Special Session Senate File 9, the Construction Careers Foundation received money for its Helmets to Hardhats program which connects Veterans along with active duty and reserve members with construction careers.

Special Session House File 13 was the Legacy bill that funds projects from the outdoor heritage, clean water, parks and trails and arts and cultural heritage funds that were established by the Legacy Amendment in 2008. Several Veterans provisions were included.

• State matching grants for Veterans memorials
• Funds for the Disabled Veterans Rest Camp on Big Marine Lake in Washington County
• Money to restore the Veterans Memorial Park in Kasson
• Funding to the Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations (AMPERS) for its Veterans’ Voices program to educate and engage communities with an emphasis on the untold stories of Veterans from diverse communities.

Finally, the Tax bill, Special Session House File 9 included two Veterans items. The bill changed the application deadline for the disabled Veteran’s homestead market value exclusion to Dec. 31 instead of Dec. 15. The more substantive change now excludes Veterans disability compensation from the definition of “income” used for purposes of the homestead credit refund and renter’s property tax refund.

With the budget work complete, the House adjourned the special session on June 30. The Senate stayed in session until July 7. The legislature is now on hiatus until an expected special session in September where they may work on a bonding bill to pay for infrastructure needs around the state. The legislature will return for regular session on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022.