MADISON, WI – Yesterday, State Senators Dianne Hesselbein, Jamie Wall, and Jeff Smith called on Republican lawmakers to stop playing political games with the lives of Wisconsin veterans.
Just weeks ahead of the September 30th deadline that will see two Veterans Housing and Recovery Program facilities close, Senate Democrats are imploring their Republican colleagues to pass legislation to keep the facilities open.
Earlier this summer Republicans twice voted to withhold the necessary funding to keep the doors open at the Chippewa Falls and Green Bay facilities, and now they are refusing to pass legislation to provide the critical support our veterans need. Also yesterday, Republican Senate leadership made it clear that they would not be in session during the month of September – all but ensuring that these facilities will close their doors to the men and women who rely on them.
Read More On Republican Lawmakers Failing To Stand Up For Wisconsin Veterans:
Wisconsin Watch: Veterans say Klein Hall gave them a new life. Now it’s set to close.
- “Gov. Tony Evers proposed $1.9 million in new funding for the Veteran Housing and Recovery Program. VHRP supports the veterans homes like Klein Hall as well as facilities in Green Bay — also slated to close — and Union Grove. The Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget writing committee rejected the proposal before hashing out the two-year budget Evers signed in July.”
715 Newsroom: WI Lawmakers Push for Veteran Housing Funding
- “Senators Jeff Smith and Jamie Wall have introduced a bill that would provide funding to the facilities in Green Bay and Chippewa Falls. Governor Tony Evers had requested funding for the housing program but members of the joint finance committee removed it from the final budget. If the facilities close, it could mean the loss of 41 beds for veterans facing homelessness.”
Wisconsin Examiner: Veterans’ housing sites are set to close in a month. A bipartisan fix appears out of reach.
- “Smith called Republicans’ lack of action on the issue “callous,” noting that Democrats tried months ago to include the funding in the budget. When Democrats proposed an amendment to fund the veterans’ housing sites in the state budget, every Republican voted against it except for Sen. André Jacque (R-New Franken).”
Green Bay Press Gazette:Two state senators request expedited hearing to keep veterans Green Bay homeless shelter open
- “State Sens. Jamie Wall, D-Green Bay, and Jeff Smith, D-Brunswick, called for an expedited public hearing and committee vote to “provide the much-needed funding to keep these two facilities open.”
Civic Media: Democratic Senators urge action to keep veterans programs open
- “ If the Bellevue and Chippewa Falls facilities close, we’ll lose 41 beds,” said Wall. “And that means that dozens of Wisconsin veterans will be at risk of spending the winter on the street. And those veterans will be disproportionately from Northern Wisconsin.”
WISPolitics: Senate Dems today urged Republicans to act on a bill aiming to prevent the closure of two locations serving homeless veterans at the end of the month.
- “This is such a typical and obvious political maneuver by Republicans. Typical in that … in cold, callous behavior, the Republican Party chooses to use a very important group of people for their political purposes,” Smith said. “They claim to be all for our country and our veterans, and yet they turn their backs on them for political pressure. They want to point the finger at our governor, when in fact they had every opportunity to fix this.”
