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Panel approves bill to transfer state veterans homes authority to Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Summary
The subcommittee voted to send Senate Bill 218 forward, aligning statutory authority for veterans homes with the Department of Veterans' Affairs and allowing that department to adopt admissions, discharge, fee and benefits policies; the panel recorded a unanimous favorable roll call
Columbia, S.C. — The House Subcommittee on Veterans and Military Affairs voted Wednesday to recommend Senate Bill 218, which clarifies and transfers statutory authority over South Carolina veterans homes from the Department of Mental Health to the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
The measure allows the Department of Veterans' Affairs to adopt criteria, policies and procedures for admissions and discharges at the state veterans homes, to set and collect resident fees for services, and to receive state and federal benefits charged by those homes.
The transfer of operational authority has been underway: the department testified it assumed responsibility for five of six state veterans homes in July 2024 and will receive responsibility for the final home in Columbia on July 1, 2025. "We assume responsibility for five of the current six homes in July of 2024. We will receive responsibility for the final home here in Columbia on 1 July of 2025," the Department of Veterans' Affairs official told the subcommittee.
Sponsor remarks traced the move to an effort to reduce the stigma of housing veterans programs inside the mental health agency and to align veterans services under one agency. The sponsor cited support letters from state and local leaders and said the change clarifies authorities in the state code.
With no substantive opposition raised at the hearing, the subcommittee called the question and recorded unanimous support in the roll call. The clerk called the roll and members voted "Aye," sending a favorable recommendation to the next committee stage.
The bill was described in committee as a statutory clean-up to ensure the Department of Veterans' Affairs can carry out the same admission, fee and benefits functions previously exercised by the Department of Mental Health.
Next steps: The measure will proceed with a favorable report from the subcommittee for further action by the House.
