LITTLE ROCK — A second bill is being drafted for next month’s legislative session that would pave the way for a new state veterans home, as more legislators focus on building a new nursing home for veterans after the closure of the Little RockVeterans Home.
The Little Rock home closed last month, with all 70 residents moving to other facilities, after the building was found to be in such disrepair that it would take an estimated $10 million just to bring the plumbing, electricity and heating and cooling systems up to standard.
Rep. Jane English, RNorth Little Rock, told the Arkansas Veterans Alliance on Wednesday that she is drafting a bill to create a legislative task force to develop a plan for a new veterans home.
“What I realized is we don’t have a plan,” she told the group, composed ofcommanders of the American Legion, Military Officers Association of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, English and representatives for U.S. Sens. Mark Pryor and John Boozman and U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin.
“We as a group don’t have authority,” English said, “And we need a whole lot moreinfo than we have.”
Former Marine Bill Harris established the Arkansas Veterans Alliance this year when he became frustrated with the Arkansas Veterans Coalition and the governor-appointed Arkansas Veterans Commission when neither group took actionto develop a plan for a new veterans home after the Little Rock Veterans Home’s f inancial problems and chronic disrepair became known.
In addition to the structural neglect, the Little Rock home was found in May to have been operating at such a deficit that food bills had gone unpaid for months while the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs illegally collected about $600,000 in out-of-pocket fees from the home’s most disabled veterans.
The discoveries led Gov.Mike Beebe to ask Dave Fletcher to resign as veterans department director in May. Beebe then placed retired National Guard Army Col. Cissy Rucker at the helm. She has spent the last six months putting the agency’s budget back on track, realigning the organization and closing the Little Rock home.
The agency has a staff of veterans service officers who work in every county of the state to help veterans access benefits. It also oversees operations at the 108-bed Fayetteville Veterans Home and two state veterans cemeteries.
One bill has already been filed in support of a new veterans home.
Rep. John Edwards, DLittle Rock, last week prefiled House Bill 1013, which would amend current state law to account for the closure of the Little Rock Veterans Home and allow for a new home to be built. The law specified the location of the Little Rock Veterans Home and limited the size to 70 beds.
Edwards’ bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs “to establish and maintain a Veterans Home at a location selected by the Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs, afterseeking advice from the Arkansas Veterans Commission.”
The commission is a 15-member board appointed by the governor that under Arkansas Code 20-81-104 “is established to serve as an advisory agency to the Veterans Home.” The law further charges the commission to make recommendations to the General Assembly and the director of the Department of Veterans Affairs on the operation and improvement of the home.
In recent years, however, the commission has taken no action.
Commission Chairman Tom Thomas on Wednesday shared with the Alliance a slide show of Alabama’s new $50 million veterans home, which was built and is run by a private contractor.
The cost of the home is double that of the average cost of state-run veterans homes in states neighboring Arkansas. All neighboring states have multiple veterans homes built through a federal VA grant program that pays for 65 percent of construction costs.
On a $20 million building, the state’s matching portion would be about $6 million.
Fletcher, the former veterans director, applied for a grant without the state’s knowledge in 2007, but his agency never requested matching construction funds. That grant application was renewed every year with his signature, but without any supporting documentation.
Since none of the requirements were met year after year, the state is at the bottom of the eligibility list, according to VA documents.
English told the Veterans Alliance on Wednesday that creating a legislative task force allows the Bureau of Legislative Research to help with research and plan development to meet thosefederal requirements.
“It isn’t a question of whether we’ll do this, but how we’ll do this,” English said.
The task force would be comprised of six legislators, representatives of the Arkansas Building Authority and state Department of Health, and one representative from every recognized veterans organization in the state, she said. She plans to file the bill in January, after the start of the session.
“I don’t want any kind of task force without veterans groups involved,” English said.
If her bill passes, she said the task force should have a goal of developing a plan by October and pushing forward an appropriation bill for the 2014 legislative fiscal session.
The Bureau of Legislative Research captured much of the data the group will need in a September report that detailed Arkansas’ veterans population and studied veterans home in other states.
Edwards said last week that he hoped to have a plan in place in time to meet the April deadline for applying for a VA grant. He studied Louisiana’s five veterans homes in developing his plan and looked into private donations to help with construction. Louisiana’s homes are run by the state and funded through Medicaid, Medicare, VA per diem and private pay. They also relied on donated land andsome private donations for construction.
The homes are self-sufficient without requiring any state revenue to operate, just like the Fayetteville Veterans Home.
English agreed that studying other states successes and failures is essential to develop a working plan for Arkansas.
“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel here,” she said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 12/13/2012