MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD), announced Wisconsin has retained a top-five ranking in America for successfully helping veterans find employment for the second consecutive year. The ranking underscores the governor’s and the Evers Administration’s continued commitment to supporting Wisconsin’s approximately 300,000 veterans and connecting veterans with available jobs after they have returned to civilian life. The governor’s announcement comes as today, DWD is hosting a Vets Ready Symposium in Appleton, an annual event where DWD recognizes employers who go the extra mile to hire and support veterans in the workforce.
“Supporting our veterans and their families when they return to civilian life is critically important, whether it’s making sure housing is affordable, that healthcare and mental health care are accessible, or ensuring veterans and their families can receive the services they have earned,” said Gov. Evers. “A key part of our work to support our veterans and their families is making sure they can get connected to good, family-supporting jobs right here in Wisconsin. I’m proud of my administration’s efforts to help make Wisconsin one of the top states in America for helping connect our veterans with available jobs, and I look forward to continuing this important work.”
Wisconsin ranks fourth in the Uniform National Threshold Entered Employment Rate for veterans and eligible persons, a standard created by the U.S. Department of Labor to measure how effective states are in providing employment services to veterans. The standard covers state service delivery systems, including programs administered by DWD’s Office of Veterans Employment Services (OVES), the Jobs for Veterans State Grants program, and the Wagner-Peyser funded Employment Service.
“Our veterans bring invaluable experience and skills to the workforce—assets that our state’s employers are looking for to fill high-skill job openings across industries,” said DWD Secretary Amy Pechacek. “Veterans often face special challenges in finding family-supporting employment when they return home, such as translating military experience into civilian job qualifications. DWD’s Office of Veterans Employment Services provides individualized services to veterans as well as partners with Wisconsin companies to help them build their workforces. From on-the-job training to assistance with recruitment and transitional employment programs, our dedicated staff delivers the tools and resources necessary to help veterans thrive.”
OVES assists veterans through the entire employment process, from developing a resume to translating military experience into civilian job opportunities. Employers can also work with OVES to access funding for on-the-job training, offer subsidized transitional employment, and build a diverse workforce from a broad pool of skilled candidates.
In the program year that ended June 2024, the Veterans’ Entered Employment Rate in Wisconsin exceeded the national threshold, with 67.4 percent of participating veterans securing employment after using DWD’s services. DWD’s Veterans Employment Services website outlines the agency’s additional veteran employment programs like the Vets Ready Employer Initiative, the Hire Heroes program, and other resources available to veterans and employers.
This comes as Gov. Evers introduced his 2025-27 Executive Budget last month that continues to prioritize and invest in supporting Wisconsin’s veterans and their families, including expanding access to healthcare and affordable housing, lowering costs for veterans and their families through property tax relief programs, and supporting job training, education, counseling, and rehabilitative services.
Gov. Evers recognizes that veterans in Wisconsin and across the nation continue to face significant challenges when adjusting to civilian life, and supporting Wisconsin’s veterans and their families and ensuring they have the resources and tools needed to thrive in their civilian lives has been a top priority for Gov. Evers and the Evers Administration since Day One.
In 2022, Gov. Evers signed Executive Order #157, creating a Blue Ribbon Commission on Veteran Opportunity to develop comprehensive, long-term efforts to support the state’s veterans and address the challenges they face. Based on the Commission’s recommendations, Gov. Evers invested $10 million toward addressing gaps in existing veteran services and reducing barriers to economic security, including efforts to expand access to higher education and job training, address housing insecurity, and increase mental and behavioral health support and substance use disorder treatment.
The governor’s 2025-27 Executive and Capital Budgets build upon that important work, proposing investments and provisions that will help expand access to healthcare and affordable housing and give veterans more breathing room in their household budgets, including:
- More than $1 million to expand the Veterans Outreach and Recovery Program, which provides outreach mental health services and support to veterans who may have a mental health condition or substance use disorder;
- The goal of the program is to reduce the suicide rate among veterans and to provide veterans access to mental health support, housing, and other services.
- $2.7 million over the biennium for peer-run respite centers, including the peer-run respite center for veterans, to ensure the centers have a reliable, ongoing funding source;
- $5 million for three grant programs to support mental health services statewide, including community-based services, emergency crisis services, and support for healthcare providers providing services to veterans;
- $50,000 over the biennium to increase the annual grant to Camp American Legion to support relaxation and rehabilitation services for veterans and their families;
- $200,000 over the biennium to support critical transportation services for veterans to access medical care;
- $21.9 million over the biennium to Wisconsin veterans homes to maintain the high quality of care veterans deserve and have earned through their service;
- Expanding access to the Assistance for Needy Veterans Grant by including medical devices as an allowable expense under the program;
- Further, increasing the 12-month maximum grant award for the above program from $3,000 to $5,000 per recipient and the lifetime maximum grant award from $7,500 to $10,000.
- Expanding the Veterans and Surviving Spouses Property Tax Credit to include renters with a credit rate of 20 percent of rent when heat is included and 25 percent when heat is not included, ultimately providing $23 million in tax relief to veterans and their families over the biennium;
- Expanding eligibility for the Veterans and Surviving Spouses Property Tax Credit to allow those with disability ratings of 70 percent or greater to claim the credit beginning with tax year 2025, ultimately providing an additional $66.5 million in relief for disabled veterans and their families over the biennium;
- Renaming the Homestead Tax Credit to the “Property Tax and Rent Rebate” and increasing the maximum income threshold for the credit. This will provide $147.8 million in property tax relief for approximately 165,000 homeowners and renters, especially seniors and others on fixed incomes over the biennium;
- Nearly $2 million over the biennium to the Veterans Housing and Recovery Program that provides homeless veterans with job training, education, counseling, and rehabilitation services necessary to achieve steady employment and affordable housing.
- In 2024 alone, the program helped serve 225 veterans with an average length of stay of 208 days, well below the program’s maximum length of stay of 730 days.
- Over $129,000 to provide a five percent increase for state grants supporting County and Tribal Veterans Services Offices, which helps veterans navigate and access the benefits they have earned;
- $1 million to the University of Wisconsin Missing-In-Action A Recovery Program for missions to recover and identify veterans missing in action;
- $164,000 and one two-year project position to plan and implement special events related to Wisconsin’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America;
- Expanding the definition of “veteran” to qualify for remission of tuition and fees to include any state resident who was naturalized as a U.S. citizen pursuant to the federal Hmong Veterans’ Naturalization Act of 2000;
- Over $300,000 for the state’s veterans memorial cemeteries to continue providing a peaceful final resting place for eligible veterans, spouses, and dependents; Over $300,000 to support and expand the oral history programs at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum;
- $5 million to modernize the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs benefit management information technology systems;
- Establishing Veterans Day as a state government holiday; and
- Upgrading Wisconsin’s veterans homes through the 2025-27 Capital Budget with more than $137 million in essential upgrades and a $6.2 million investment toward the future Wisconsin Veterans Museum upgrade and expansion.
An online version of this release is available here.
