House votes to restore Vets Home funding

With bipartisan support, the Montana House voted March 11 to restore about $2.2 million in funding cuts to the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls.

The restoration of funds came as an amendment to House Bill 2, the state budget bill. It was supported by Flathead lawmakers, including Reps. Derek Skees and Bill Beck, representing urban and rural Whitefish respectively.

The measure still has yet to be approved by the Senate. The Senate Finance Committee is expected to take up the budget soon. Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, said he would oppose cuts to the home.

In addition to restoring the funding cuts, the House also approved cutting a line item in the budget that would have paid a settlement to workers at the home if it was privatized. Some lawmakers have considered privatizing the Vets Home, which has been strongly opposed by veterans.

Anna Whiting Sorrell, director of the Department of Health and Human Services, thanked the veterans for their input.

“It was their hard work that turned this around,” she said.

There still could be a budget crunch at the home. About $127,000 in cuts to overtime pay for staff has yet to be restored, Sorrell said. Legislators also could vote to study privatizing the facility in the interim.

“The idea of privatization has not gone away,” she said.