Counties say MVAA grant recalculation forced staff cuts, curtailed outreach and prompted calls for audit

Directors of county veteran service offices told a Michigan House appropriations subcommittee on March 18, 2025, in Lansing that a midcycle recalculation of the County Veterans Service Fund by the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency (MVAA) reduced FY25 awards, forced layoffs or the cancellation of outreach programs, and added burdensome reporting requirements.

The testimony repeatedly linked the cuts and new reporting to immediate impacts on services for veterans, particularly in rural areas such as the Upper Peninsula. "We would most definitely like to have the money that's being cut brought back to us because our county and multiple counties in the UP . . . are cutting programs," Ramon Baca, director of Livingston County Veterans Services, told the panel.

Why it matters: County veteran service offices (VSOs) say the grant pays front-line staff, funds transportation to VA medical care in remote counties, and supports outreach that connects veterans to federal benefits. Witnesses said the MVAA change removed a longstanding $50,000 training reimbursement and reduced individual county awards by tens of thousands of dollars in some cases, undermining offices’ capacity to help veterans file claims and handle emergent needs.

County officials described concrete losses. Maureen Adams, director of the Veterans Service Office in Berrien County, said her county's…