Wisconsin Veterans Fund Transfer Oversight Approved

Members of the Legislature’s budget committee have passed a plan would give them control over transfers into and out of a fund that’s set aside for veterans.

Wisconsin’s Veterans Trust Fund has run deficits for years, a problem the state has typically fixed by transferring money into the fund from surpluses at state veterans homes.

But those transfers have had consequences. An audit released last week found $55 million had been transferred out of the budget for the Veterans Home at King, despite a backlog of uncompleted maintenance projects at the facility.

Lawmakers said giving themselves more scrutiny could prevent those problems in the future, although Gov. Scott Walker has vetoed a similar measure in the past. Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, the budget committee’s co-chair, said he doesn’t know whether Walker would veto it again.

“You know, I’m on the Gov. Walker team,” Nygren said. “But I don’t know that we should ever make our decisions based on whether he’s going to veto something or not. We should make decisions based on what’s best for the Assembly and the Senate’s position.”

While Democrats voted for the move, they said it didn’t go far enough. They tried unsuccessfully to move $26 million into the veterans fund from the state’s general fund. Republicans rejected that proposal, accusing Democrats of playing politics.