Kansas Office of Veterans Services briefs committee on outreach, PACT Act claims growth, homes and cemetery projects
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Summary
Kansas Office of Veterans Services told the Committee on Veterans and Military it serves roughly 180,000 veterans, reported large increases in claims after the PACT Act, outlined outreach activities and mobile clinics, and summarized capital projects including a federally funded $1.3 million Winfield cemetery expansion and completed design work for a new veterans home.
The Kansas Office of Veterans Services (KOVS) briefed the Committee on Veterans and Military on the agency’s operations, statewide veteran population and recent program activity. Agency leadership said the state has about 180,000 veterans and is seeing a significant increase in benefit claims since the federal PACT Act took effect.
General Turner, the agency director, described four primary lines of effort—advising and assisting veterans and their families, claims quality assurance, veteran service organization partnerships, and management of veterans homes and cemeteries. He said partnerships with the VFW and American Legion are central to claims work: “Right now, each of those service organizations receives $500,000 a year,” Turner said, describing a $1,000,000 grant program that the state disperses to veterans service organizations to support outreach and claims assistance.
The agency reported robust outreach in the past year: about 131 formal outreach events plus roughly 579 itinerant visits by field offices and mobile units designed to reach veterans in rural and urban communities. Deputy Director Eric Roland explained the breadth of VA-related expenditures returning to Kansas—compensation and pension, medical care, education benefits and housing/adaptive equipment—and offered to provide committee members ZIP-code or county-level breakdowns of those funds.
On capital projects, Turner said the Winfield cemetery expansion is fully funded by the federal VA at about $1,300,000 and will add capacity for roughly 550 caskets and 550 in‑ground cremations; work is underway with an expected completion date in June 2027. He also said design for a new veterans home is complete and the state contributed $17.2 million as the required ~35% match to pursue a federal grant; the project currently sits on a federal priority list but is ranked low enough that federal funding is uncertain.
Turner described operations at the state veterans homes: Winfield has been rated a five‑star facility in most recent quarters, Fort Dodge a four‑star; both facilities continue to address life‑safety and maintenance projects. The agency is also planning an internal office move to the Landon Building, scheduled for Feb. 9, which leaders said will not interrupt services.
Committee members asked for more data. Representatives requested local GI Bill payouts and Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) figures for college areas; staff said BAH is ZIP-code dependent and offered to provide exact figures (examples cited in the briefing: roughly $1,500 in Dodge City/Hays and about $1,800 in the Geary/Riley area for full‑time students). Members also asked about accredited veteran service representatives; KOVS reported 23 accredited staff, with roughly nine to 10 each from VFW and American Legion partners, totaling approximately 43 accredited representatives statewide.
Turner closed by highlighting ceremony programs (Wreaths Across America and Memorial Day), precertification efforts for burial benefits (about 9,700 pre‑certified), and veteran recognition efforts including Vietnam‑era medallions. The agency offered to supply committee members with slides and more detailed data on expenditures and outreach.
The committee took no formal votes on policy during the briefing; the chair reminded members of the legislative bill deadline and adjourned.
