New Jersey’s military and veterans leaders defend FY2026 budget, tout home reforms and guard readiness

Brigadier General Yvonne Mays, New Jersey’s adjutant general and commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, told the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee on May 8 that the department’s FY2026 request will sustain recent gains in veterans care, support National Guard readiness and continue efforts to reduce veteran homelessness.

Mays opened by citing independent inspections and oversight by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the New Jersey Department of Health that validated improvements at the state’s three veterans memorial homes. "Four consecutive surveys or inspections of Menlo Park resulted in 0 clinical deficiencies," she said. She added that Vineland and Paramus achieved top ratings in national comparisons.

The department credited legislative support and internal reforms for the improvements. Mays said the homes are intentionally operating at lower censuses to favor single-occupancy conversions and stronger patient-to-staff ratios that emerged from long-term-care reforms. "We are sufficiently…