ODVA director details Measure 96 spending on veteran programs; committee requests accounting

Dr. Nikkia Council Daniels, director of the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, told the House Committee on Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans on June 3, 2025, that Measure 96 lottery funding has been the largest investment in veteran services since ODVA’s founding and has supported a wide range of programs across the state.

The funding stream comes from Measure 96, passed by Oregon voters in 2016, which dedicates 1.5% of net lottery proceeds to veteran services. “Measure 96 represents the largest investment in veteran services since ODVA was founded in 1945,” Daniels told the committee. She said the department serves more than 260,000 veterans in Oregon and that lottery dollars have doubled funding for county veteran service offices and supported veteran transitional housing, campus veteran supports and outreach to underserved populations.

Why it matters: Committee members pressed ODVA for clearer accounting of the Measure 96 allocations so…