Committee debates Veterans Affairs budget request, questions commissioner pay and service-dog funding

The Senate Appropriations Committee spent time reviewing the Department of Veterans Affairs budget and raised questions about a commissioner salary increase the department implemented outside the current appropriation.

Legislative staff told the committee the Senate long sheet currently includes salary adjustments, health insurance increases and IT rate changes but has not added a requested new FTE the department sought. Committee members asked about service-dog funding; staff reported the department carried over $75,000 into the 2023–25 biennium and had spent $12,500 of that amount as of March 2024. Senators said they would ask for a current accounting before adding new dollars.

Multiple senators criticized the department for granting a salary increase to the commissioner without prior legislative approval. Some members argued the board had consulted with the attorney general and other offices and believed they had authority, while others said the department should not have increased pay without legislative appropriation and that any deficiency should be handled through regular budget processes.

Senators signaled differing views about whether to include the salary increase in the Senate budget; one senator suggested starting at zero in the Senate bill to preserve bargaining room for conference negotiations. The committee did not take final action on adding the commissioner’s pay but agreed to seek more information, budgeting options and legal guidance before the next committee meeting.