Louisiana Veterans Affairs seeks pay and staffing boosts as FY26 budget holds steady

The Department of Veterans Affairs presented its FY26 executive budget to the House Appropriations Committee on March 25, 2025, asking lawmakers to approve a $102.2 million operating recommendation while outlining persistent staffing and claims-processing challenges.

Committee members heard that roughly two-thirds of the department's funding is federal, about 16.7% comes from the state general fund, and the department has uneven pay and turnover that affect care at five veterans homes.

Presenting the department review, Paige Filho of the House Fiscal Division said the FY26 recommendation totals about $102,200,000 with federal funds the largest source. Secretary Charlotte McGinley told members the department has 851 authorized positions and about 80 vacancies as of Dec. 30, 2024, and that average pay is roughly $16,000 below the statewide agency average. McGinley and Chief of Staff Dustin Guy said the department is raising base pay for nursing assistants and pursuing job-series adjustments to create promotion pathways.

Committee members pressed department officials on vacancy patterns. McGinley and Guy said nursing assistant positions accounted for the largest separations and that entry pay for a certified nursing assistant is about $30,000 with progression to roughly $40,000 after about a year with premiums, overtime and shift differentials. The officials said turnover has improved from earlier post‑COVID highs — from roughly 175 open positions a year ago to about 80 now — but remains above the statewide average.

Lawmakers also questioned the department’s handling of the LANG benefit program, a state program that provides payments to qualifying Louisiana National Guard members rated 100% related to contingency operations. McGinley said prior administrations had one person processing those claims; the department is shifting to a team model and expects to have three full‑time and seven part‑time staff working on LANG cases by the end of next month to clear a backlog. She said the program is appropriated about $3.7 million in FY26 and that historically only about a third of claims meet statutory eligibility.

Members asked about veteran economic impact figures cited by McGinley (for example, $4.7 billion in VA/DoD dollars flowing into the state, and $196 million in GI Bill payments statewide, with LSU receiving about $30 million). McGinley said the figures were compiled from federal and state sources and used in outreach to colleges and workforce programs.

Officials told the committee that veterans home occupancy generally runs about 80–90% statewide (Jennings and Reserve among the higher‑census homes), that Bossier recovered recent census losses, and that several homes have capital projects underway — Jennings’s shower/ADA project was cited as a $1.6 million capital outlay effort in progress. On personnel and pay, McGinley and Guy said they are pursuing civil service job‑assessment work, premium pay and classification changes to reduce turnover.

The department said it expects most FY26 state general fund allocations to be used; prior years showed returned SGF tied largely to under‑spent LANG appropriations while the department lacked staff to process those awards efficiently. McGinley said the department inherited some of those operational shortcomings and that the new claims team is intended to reduce returned appropriations by putting money into veterans’ hands.

The hearing included multiple lawmakers’ praise for the department’s outreach to veterans, and consistent requests for updates on vacancy reductions, LANG backlog clearance and progress on capital projects.

Officials provided the committee contact points for follow‑up and said they would return with progress updates on the staffing changes and claim processing timeline.