LITTLE ROCK — State Rep. John Edwards, D-Little Rock, filed a bill Monday asking for up to $14 million to build and equip a new veterans nursing home, a necessary step if the state wants to obtain a federal grant to absorb much of the home’s construction costs.
House Bill 1299 asks for up to $7.5 million in general improvement funds and up to $7 million for land acquisition, construction and equipment. The bill also allows for private donations of money, land and equipment to the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs for the home.
If the state is awarded agrant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to build a new home, the grant would fund 65 percent of the cost of construction. If the cost of building a 150-bed home is $20 million - on par with veterans homes recently constructed in Tennessee and Louisiana - the state would pay $7 million.
“Passage and implementation of this bill is vital to even compete for the federal funds,” Edwards said.
The VA grant program for state-run veterans nursing homes is mandated by Title 38 of the U.S. Code. In order for a state to get on the priority list, a development plan and funding must be submitted with the state’s application. Arkansas has a continued application filed with the VA but lacks the required documentation.
HB1299 will establish intent to fund as required in the application, which is due April 15, with proof of intent to fund by August.
“We have to have a commitment for money by August,” Edwards said. “Given our session, we can.”
Support for legislation related to veterans homes has crossed the aisle in both the House and Senate, with House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, signing on to the appropriations bill as a sponsor.
House Bill 1013, also filed by Edwards and making its way through the Legislature, amends state law to allow a new veterans home to be built at a location selected by the director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs with input from a new Veterans Home Task Force.
Another related bill, filed by Sen. Jane English, R-North Little Rock, was signed into law last week as Act 38. It establishes a 22-member task force to develop a veterans home plan.
“This is laying the groundwork for doing something when we’re ready,” English, who co-sponsored both of Edwards’ bills, said of Edwards’ funding bill. “I’m coolwith it.”
The push for a new veterans home comes just months after the Little Rock Veterans Home was discovered to be unsafe after years of neglect and underfunded operations that left the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairsstruggling to pay its food bills and medical costs.
The state has a veterans home in Fayetteville, which unlike the now-closed Little Rock home, is self-supporting through Medicaid, Medicare and private payers.
According to the federal VA, there are 133 state veterans homes in 50 states and Puerto Rico with 30,000 beds.
All of Arkansas’ neighboring states have multiple veterans homes. Tennessee has three veterans homes and is on the expedited funding list at the VA for two more. Louisiana has five homes. Missouri and Oklahoma have seven each. Mississippi has three. Of those states, only Oklahoma uses state general funds to operate its homes.
English said she tried to get funding for a new home before and failed, but said thetask force is an important part of the current plan.
“If you’re going to spend that kind of money and get commitment for that kind of money, you have to have people bought in to support the plan,” she said. “I think we have to have something to sell to the Legislature, not just the VA.”
And part of that developing plan is looking at future needs, she said.
“We’re moving forward, and folks from all over the state are going to be a part of it,” she said. “We need to start thinking about what the needs are going to be for the veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, not just previous wars.”
Edwards has visited Louisiana’s newest veterans home to gather information on funding and design options and discussed the federal grant with members of Arkansas’ U.S. congressional delegation.
“There’s no time like the present,” Edwards said, “and I think the veterans of this state have waited long enough to have a quality designed and operated home.”
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/14/2013