New funding and bill aim to retain veterans’ homes

Plans to provide funding to keep the Machias and Caribou veterans' homes open and emergency legislation that would require that homes be located in those communities are moving forward, as efforts continue to reverse the decision by the Maine Veterans' Homes (MVH) board of trustees to close the two homes. The amended legislation was unanimously supported by the Veterans and Legal Affairs (VLA) Committee during a work session on March 11 and is expected to be taken up by the House and Senate soon. It would take effect upon being signed into law, which could be before the MVH board's planned closing of the homes by May 1. Meanwhile, the American Legion Department of Maine is calling on the MVH leadership to keep the homes open or to resign.
On March 15 Governor Janet Mills announced that she will dedicate $3.5 million in a budget change package to keep the two veterans' homes open. Mills' funding plan supports an amendment to Senate President Troy Jackson's bill introduced by Senator Craig Hickman, the Senate chair of the VLA Committee, that establishes a process to ensure the state explores every available option before approving the closure of a Maine veterans' home.
At the committee work session, Hickman noted that the MVH board had voted in October to close the homes but the legislature was not informed until late February. He said the intent of the bill is "to provide the legislature appropriate oversight of such a decision, and it allows the communities to weigh in on the decision." The legislature would not have veto power over the MVH board, but the board would have to make its case to close a home to the legislature and the public. "We have a partnership with the board, because we created the board in statute," Hickman noted.
Hickman's statement is supported by an opinion from Attorney General Aaron Frey, who writes that the legislature "may exercise oversight over the operations of the MVH, including imposing constraints on its closure of facilities," since the veterans' homes and the MVH board are governmental entities created by the legislature.
According to the governor's office, Mills' proposal, along with other long-term care payments provided through the biennial budget she signed into law and her proposed supplemental budget, will keep the homes in Caribou and Machias open for at least another year, allowing time for the state and the MVH board to develop long-term plans for the facilities and their residents.
The $3.5 million in the budget change package is based on the combined annual deficit for the Caribou and Machias facilities of $3 million, as conveyed by the chairman of the MVH board in a February 14 letter to Mills.
"Our promise to our veterans is that we will stand by them, just as they stood by us in their service to our state and our nation -- and these homes are a small step towards fulfilling that promise," says Governor Mills. "The veterans who live in these homes, along with their families and the staff, all deserve for them to stay open."
Senate President Jackson says, "The brave Mainers who have served our state and country in the armed forces didn't back down, and they certainly didn't give up when our rights, our freedoms and our way of life was under fire. Now that the Maine veterans' homes in Caribou and Machias are under threat, we must show the same courage, commitment and resolve to protect their way of life - getting the long-term care they need in a first-rate facility, in their community and near the people they love. The closure of any veterans' home should only be the option of last resort. With this new law, the Maine Veterans' Homes will have to come before the legislature to seek approval before closing any of these facilities."

Process for any closure proposed
The amended bill would establish that veterans' homes must be located in Washington, Aroostook, Cumberland, Kennebec, Oxford and Penobscot counties; add three civilian members to the MVH board; require that the board seek permanent funds to ensure the continuous operation of the homes; require that the board submit an annual report to the governor and legislature with audited financial statements, statistics and any recommendations; establish requirements that the board must follow when approving the discontinuation of services at a home; and require the board and other agencies to convene a group of stakeholders to develop a plan for the long-term operation of the homes, with a report to be presented to the legislature by next February.
If the MVH board authorizes any discontinuation of services at one of the homes, it would have to notify legislative representatives within three days of the decision, and then within 10 days of that notification a public meeting, with public comment invited, would have to be held, with the board presenting information concerning why a home is no longer necessary and its plan for the care of those veterans at the home.
The naming of the locations where the homes have to be located had been included in state law previously, but the locations were removed in an amendment that was approved by the legislature in 2016.
Senator Hickman, who proposed the amended bill that the VLA Committee supports, says, "Throughout the nearly five-hour long public hearing and work session, Mainers appeared before the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee outraged and heartbroken over the impending closure of the Maine veterans' homes in Caribou and Machias. However, it quickly became clear that the care provided to the residents of the Maine veterans' homes represents the gold standard for long-term care in this state. I can't for the life of me understand why we would kick veterans and their families out of their homes when they need us the most."
Along with financial losses and a workforce scarcity, the MVH board had cited a declining veteran population as the reason for closing the two homes. However, according to the American Legion Department of Maine, Washington County has an estimated 3,800 veterans with 50% possibly needing services. The next demographic of veterans needing care will be the Vietnam veterans.
The Maine Veterans' Homes were established by the legislature in 1977 as a state chartered nonprofit to provide long-term care to veterans and eligible military spouses. The MVH board currently operates six facilities throughout the state located in Augusta, Caribou, Bangor, Machias, Scarborough and South Paris.