 Greetings from the district, One of the many accomplishments of the 2022 legislative session was a comprehensive bill to help Minnesota veterans and their families. This bipartisan bill was the result of Democrats and Republicans working together with stakeholders in an effort to support veterans across the state. The bill takes us closer to our goal of ending and preventing veteran homelessness, as well as provides bonuses to veterans of post-9/11 wars, and funds critical veterans’ homes like the one in Preston. There are several key components: ENLISTMENT AND RE-ENLISTMENT BONUSES The bill provides funding for enlistment and reenlistment bonuses for members of Minnesota’s National Guard. The bill provides $4 million for incentives designed to attract and retain more trained, talented members of the Minnesota National Guard. FUNDING FOR MINNESOTA VETERANS HOMES, INCLUDING PRESTON The bill provides $26 million to be divided between the Preston Veterans’ home, the Bemidji home, and the Montevideo home for the design, construction, and equipping of site and building improvements. The legislature originally approved funding for three new veterans’ homes in Preston, Montevideo, and Bemidji in the 2018 bonding bill. The federal government authorized nearly $80 million in funding for its share of the projects in March of 2021, but due to the gap in the timeline, certain important projects had to be removed in order to meet the original budget. The 2022 veterans bill will allow these projects to be completed. The state’s three new veterans’ homes are going to enable us to provide well-deserved care to more veterans, and that is fantastic news. We have a duty to provide the highest level of care that we can to those who answered the nation’s call. This bill will allow us to fulfill our commitment to Minnesota’s veterans. I am grateful for the engagement from local officials from the city of Preston, Fillmore County, veterans groups, and countless volunteers who continue to make sure we are supporting as many people as we can. This bipartisan effort is a wonderful way to honor our veterans and their families. BONUS PAY FOR VETERANS OF POST-9/11 WARS The bill provided funding for bonus pay for veterans of post-9/11 wars. Minnesota has a long history of providing bonus pay to military members and veterans who fight in America’s wars, and now we are continuing that commitment to veterans of our most recent wars. If you served in one of those wars, please make sure to apply as soon as you can. The final day to apply is June 30, 2024, but if funds are exhausted you may miss out. For more information and to apply, visit MinnesotaVeteran.org/ServiceBonus. ENDING VETERAN HOMELESSNESS The bill provides $5.4 million for the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans to provide assistance to veterans and former service members and their families who are homeless or in danger of homelessness, as well as $1.7 million annually to fund temporary housing options for veterans and former service members experiencing homelessness and to increase outreach activities to end homelessness. CONTACT ME As always, if you have any questions, ideas, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me anytime. Your feedback is extremely important to me and I encourage you to share your input. You can send me an email at sen.jeremy.miller@senate.mn or call my Capitol office at 651-296-5649. It’s a great honor to serve as your State Senator. Finally, if you don’t already follow me on Facebook, please give my page a ‘Like’. This is a great way to stay on top of the latest news from the Capitol! Visit my page here: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorJeremyMiller/. Sincerely, Jeremy |
