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Washington Department of Veterans Affairs outlines $3.2M cuts, program reductions and capital wins
Summary
Director David Puente told lawmakers that WDVA must absorb roughly $3.2 million in reductions requested by the governor for the 2025-27 biennium, hold 17 positions vacant and cut or restructure several programs including in-house nursing assistant training, a veteran farm program, VetCorps/AmeriCorps sites and portions of counseling and wellness.
The Washington Department of Veterans Affairs told the Joint Committee on Veterans' & Military Affairs on Thursday that a set of budget reductions will force program cuts and staffing freezes even as the agency secured capital funding for replacement homes and a second state veterans cemetery.
"This has also given us an opportunity to work with our partners, both federal, state, and nonprofits to find out where areas that we can partner and integrate some of our work based on some of these cuts that we're gonna be impacted by," Director David Puente said, describing how WDVA planned to reallocate limited resources after the governor asked agencies for at least a 6% reduction.
Puente said the agency identified about $3,200,000 in reductions for the 2025-27 biennium. Major operational impacts include a 50% reduction in a veteran internship program (the VCC…
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