GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – During a virtual press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Democratic leaders expressed their disappointment with legislative Republicans for not being able to come to an agreement on a bill for funding the Veterans Housing and Recovery program.
“My disappointment is with the leadership of legislative Republicans that have not made this program, that have not made that bill, that has not made homeless veterans a priority the last few months, and they have run out the clock until here we are on September 30, with the funding going away,” Green Bay State Senator Jaime Wall said during the press conference.
Buildings in Bellevue and Chippewa Falls have shuttered their doors due to a lack of funding to help keep them running. Wall voiced concerns of the Republicans, not putting veterans at the top of their list to keep them off the streets.
“It’s a terrible shame that we are here today, it’s a terrible shame that Republican leadership in the legislature chose this outcome for our homeless veterans, and I sincerely hope that we can do better by them going forward.”
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State Senator of New Franken Andre Jacque was the only Republican who was for the bill towards finding funding for Veterans’ housing programs. But when he recently spoke on the Senate floor advocating for funding to be restored, he felt that other political leaders didn’t feel the same.
Jacque commented, “I think a lot of people had priorities in the budget, mine were Veterans’ issues that weren’t addressed, and ultimately, when you have a bipartisan budget that had done a lot of good in different areas, that wasn’t a priority for a lot of people that were at the table.”
Last year, Governor Tony Evers helped fund the buildings and the housing program through an administrative fund, something that State Senator Eric Wimberger of Oconto believes the Governor has been mismanaging the funds.
“What he is asking for is money to fund the program, but the money is already in the bank, and I have pointed it out to him, back in early September, exactly where the money is in the account, and how he used it last year,” he said.
Now with this bill tabled until next fall, it could leave veterans struggling to find housing, with no place to go.
