Executive order to help veterans
By James Card
Gov. Tony Evers visited the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King on Monday, Feb. 21 as part of tour following his State of the State address.
The visit was tied t oEvers signing an executive order to create a commission to help Wisconsin veterans.
Earlier in the morning, he made a similar stop at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Chippewa Falls.
The informal press conference was held at the Marden Center. Seventeen people attended, not including the governor’s entourage.
In this small group there were seven veterans. The rest were department heads and staffers from the veteran’s home.
Evers started off by greeting the vets.
“How long have you been here?” he asked a man in a wheelchair wearing a brown baseball cap.
“Three years,” he said.
Evers noted from the man’s ball cap that he was in the army and asked how long he served.
“Three years, down in Panama,” the man replied.
Evers continued greeting and thanking each individual veteran. He asked about their service and where they grew up in Wisconsin.
There were some Vietnam vets and one man who was a Seabee, the nickname of those that serve in the U.S. Naval Construction Battalions.
Going around the room, the department heads of the veteran’s home introduced themselves to the governor. “I’m not a vet but my dad is a Vietnam Vet. I serve those who’ve served,” said Brian Thibodeau, the power plant superintendent.
Evers thanked the staffers for their hard work and commented how the pandemic made everyone’s job that much more difficult. Masks and a symptom screening were required for the event.
Earlier in the day Evers signed an executive order No. 157: “Relating to the Creation of the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Veteran Opportunity.”
According to a press release, this commission “will examine the issues facing Wisconsin veterans today, including but not limited to employment and job training, post-service education, housing, stability of the Veterans Trust Fund, long-term care nursing quality and affordability, and mental and behavioral health initiatives.”
The commission will then make recommendations later in the year for the governor to add to his 2023-25 biennial budget proposal.
The week before the governor’s office announced a $5 million investment for the Wisconsin National Guard to receive extra mental health support and services.
When asked how much of these resources will be directed toward the veteran’s home in King and the surrounding Waupaca community, Evers replied: “I can’t imagine of all the different things people are going to want to see improved, some of those resources would be for here. It’s going to be around mental health services and other things. But the Blue Ribbon Commission is the one that’s going to be making those recommendations. I don’t want to pre-judge them, but given the status and stature of King, I cannot imagine that wouldn’t be happening.”
Previously, Evers signed off on the 2021-23 budget that included an increase for grants to support county veteran services and funding to promote suicide prevention among veterans.