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LINCOLN — Advocates for veterans pleaded with state lawmakers to maintain funds slated to be transferred from a veterans’ aid program to support veterans homes, despite the director of Nebraska’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs saying the transfer would not reduce services.
The Nebraska Legislature’s Appropriations Committee heard public comments Tuesday on proposed budget adjustments to Veterans Affairs. The committee has been tasked with drafting an updated state budget that fills an expected $471 million shortfall.
Gov. Jim Pillen proposed a selection of changes to the Veterans Affairs budget, most notably a $5 million transfer from the Veterans Aid Fund over two years. The funds would be allocated to bolster services at the state’s four veterans homes.
The Veterans Aid Fund provides aid to Nebraska veterans and their families for emergency and medical services. While several advocates cried foul over these transfers, Veterans Affairs Director John Hilgert said it wouldn’t reduce the amount of aid coming out of the fund.
“Utilizing these funds is the most effective way to stretch these dollars and support our brave veterans throughout the state,” Hilgert said.
This wouldn’t be the first time the state transferred dollars out of the fund in the last five years. According to the North Platte Telegraph, state lawmakers approved a $8 million transfer from the fund in 2023 to expand the Nebraska Veterans Cemetery at Grand Island.
The $7.5 million project, which incorporated the site’s original 1888 burial grounds, was dedicated on July 12, 2025.
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Hilgert said that the Veterans’ Aid Fund is growing so rapidly that he believes the state could take funding “off the top” and it would still generate enough interest to meet the needs required of it. He said interest has already recouped the reduction to expand the Grand Island cemetery.
The fund currently holds about $60 million — $57 million of which is set for long-term use and $3 million for short-term, Hilgert said. In a typical year, he said the department spends between $1.3 million to $1.5 million out of the fund.
When asked if the department would benefit from keeping the funds slated for transfer, Hilgert said doing so would exceed the amount the department planned to spend out of the fund. Department officials would need to search for additional uses, he said.
This reasoning did not satisfy the six testifiers who showed up to oppose the proposed transfer, representing the American Legion, Nebraska Veterans Council, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Nebraska Association of County Officials, along with several local advocates.
Mark Lakamp, Lancaster County Veterans Service Officer and chair of the Nebraska Veterans Council, argued there is cause for increasing spending out of the fund to meet increasing needs of veterans. Since 2023, he said the amount of Lancaster County veterans who have requested aid has increased 50%.
None of the opposing testifiers listed immediate negative impacts the transfer would have on Nebraska veterans. Instead, they largely argued that the transfer would set a bad precedent that could lead to a habit of the state siphoning dollars from the fund.
“Using Nebraska’s Veterans’ Aid Fund to address general fund shortfalls should be a last resort, not a first choice,” Lakamp said.
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