Senate Appropriations reviews Veterans Affairs budget request, including one FTE, ARPA carryovers and commissioner pay

The Senate Appropriations Human Resources Division on an appropriations-day hearing heard testimony from Lonnie Wong of the Department of Veterans Affairs on the department’s budget request and program needs.

Wong said he was asking the committee to “support Governor Armstrong’s budget” and to consider continuing carryover authority for several ARPA-funded items and “any equity funding that you would like to provide” as well as an additional full-time position. He described the requested position as “one more Veterans Benefits Specialist,” who would help process compensation, medical and pension claims.

The committee focused on three funding questions: which portions of pay and benefits are funded with federal dollars, the department’s requests to carry ARPA-funded projects into the next biennium, and how a recent equity pay action for the agency commissioner was funded and authorized.

Why it matters: committee members said the additional FTE would reduce backlogs and speed claims work coming from new federal rules and outreach programs. Wong and staff described a recent increase in claims and appeals linked to the PACT Act and related outreach: in testimony Wong cited roughly 6,015 claims in the current biennium compared with about 3,841 in an earlier two‑year…