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Committee lays over bill to expand veteran meal services to Greater Minnesota
Summary
House File 2773, sponsored by Representative Clardy, was laid over with an author’s A1 amendment to dedicate $500,000 to expand veterans meal services in Greater Minnesota; Lutheran Social Service testified about statewide capacity.
The House Veterans and Military Affairs Division laid over House File 2773 on April 2 after Representative Jeff Clardy introduced an author’s A1 amendment that would appropriate $500,000 to support veterans meal services in Greater Minnesota.
Amy Vegert, senior director of meals at Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS), testified that LSS partners with the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs to provide a range of meal services statewide, including congregate dining, home‑delivered and frozen shipped meals. Vegert said LSS began serving the core veteran clients in April 2024 and that, since then, LSS provided 5,811 meals to veterans and their families across 23 cities, reaching 334 individuals in 259 families.
"We have the infrastructure and capacity to meet the needs of the individuals," Vegert told the committee, noting an expanded regional kitchen and increased frozen meal storage would allow year‑round support if funding is provided.
Representative Clardy said his bill aims to ensure Greater Minnesota veterans have access to services like Meals on Wheels and described the appropriation as targeted to that geographic need. The committee approved the A1 amendment by voice vote and laid the bill over for possible inclusion; Representative Clardy renewed his motion to lay the bill over at the end of his remarks.
If advanced, the appropriation would support LSS and similar providers to sustain and expand meal delivery and related services to veterans and their families outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
