American Legion urges higher state grant, says regional-hour rules hobble service officers

At a House Families and Veterans Committee hearing, American Legion and Michigan Veterans Coalition leaders urged legislators to increase state funding for veteran service officers and to remove regional-hour requirements they said keep staff from serving veterans where demand exists.

The witnesses told the committee the statewide veteran service provision grant currently provides $4,250,000 split among coalition organizations, but rising costs and administration practices have reduced field capacity. They said personnel dropped from 72 service officers at the start of the fiscal year to 64 and that an MVAA administration charge of $214,000 is being taken from grant funds.

The American Legion presenters framed the request in fiscal terms: the coalition brings federal benefits into Michigan communities at a multiple of the state grant, they said, and modest increases in the grant would sustain and expand that return. "We have brought in over $68,000,000 just in the last 6 months," Gary Easterling, director of Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation for the American Legion Department of Michigan, told the committee.

Why it matters: The presenters said their service officers help veterans file claims, handle appeals and represent veterans at hearings, returning federal benefit dollars to Michigan. Committee members asked for specifics on funding, program oversight and service gaps the witnesses say are created by the grant's regional-hour requirements.

Details and requests The witnesses described three central problems: flat grant funding that has not kept pace with costs, a regional-hour requirement embedded in the MVAA grant administration that restricts the coalition’s ability to place staff where veterans seek help, and competition from higher-paying employers (for example, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) that reduces retention.

Gary Easterling said the coalition meets an overall monthly hours goal of 7,208 but struggles to meet required hours in some regions because veteran population and demand have shifted since the regional targets were set. He said state grant funding has not kept pace with costs and asked the committee to consider increasing the grant to $5.1 million (the coalition’s immediate ask) and noted a longer-term target of roughly $6.4 million to cover cost-of-living changes the presenters calculated.

Tim Poxon, identified in testimony as the American Legion legislative chair, and Dan Cooper, the Department of Michigan commander, described service programs the Legion runs statewide (claims assistance, temporary financial assistance, homeless veteran support, youth programs and scholarships) and cited a coalition footprint they said serves more than 450,000 veterans in Michigan.

Committee members asked questions about the grant source and oversight. Testimony described the grant as a state appropriated fund overseen by the MVAA (the grant manager referred to in testimony). Witnesses requested that boilerplate language allowing MVAA to withhold or reallocate portions of the grant (the $214,000 described in testimony) be removed from the grant agreement so that more funds remain in the field.

What the witnesses said they can deliver Witnesses described outputs the coalition produces: more than 3,000 service-connected claims this fiscal year (including more than 500 original claims), more than 1,500 appeals filed, more than 12,000 personal interviews and more than 16,000 telephone contacts. Easterling said those activities have produced tens of millions of dollars in benefits returned to Michigan veterans in months, and the American Legion representatives asked members to consider increases to the statewide veteran service provision grant and changes to regional-hour requirements to preserve field capacity.

Committee actions recorded in the hearing Representative Rick Wolford moved to adopt the minutes of the committee’s March 18 meeting; the chair stated the motion was approved without objection. At the close of the hearing, Chair Rep. Young moved to excuse absent members; the committee adopted that motion without objection.

Outlook and next steps Presenters gave committee members contact cards and asked legislators to consider appropriations and language changes in the grant boilerplate. Committee members requested copies of correspondence the presenters said showed MVAA warnings about withholding funds; several members voiced interest in examining that material as the committee considers budget language.