State Funding for Veterans’ Groups Slashed by 25%

This is UGN News Director Mike Hoey here with a follow-up to the 5-part series I brought you last week on U.P. veterans’ issues.

Michigan veterans’ groups are already staring down the possibility of not having any state funding anymore for veterans’ service officers.

But even if they don’t lose all of the money, they’re definitely losing a significant chunk of it.

Rick Stewart is a service officer for the American Legion that I spoke with in my series.

This morning, he sent me an e-mail from the state adjutant for the Legion.

The e-mail was about Governor Jennifer Granholm’s executive order from earlier this week.

According to the e-mail, she recommended cutting the state funding for Michigan veterans’ groups immediately by 25%.

The state legislature agreed with her.

The average cut for state agencies was 4%.

The Legion’s state adjutant went on to say that when it comes to serving the entire state with claims assistance, the situation looks bleak and the possibility of layoffs is very real.

I’ll continue to follow this story for you in the coming weeks and months, and I’ll bring you more about it as it happens.