Contact Senators to Oppose the State Taking Money from Nebraska Veterans Aid Fund

Johnson County Veterans Service Officer Ken Mandl discussed with the Johnson County Commissioners a Legislative Bill being debated by the Appropriations Committee on Monday, February 2 that would have a very negative effect on the Nebraska Veterans Aid (NVA) Fund. Mandl asked the commissioners to contact senators on the Appropriations Committee before Monday in opposition to the bill. Mandl will go to Lincoln to testify at the meeting on Monday. 
Mandl informed the commissioners that he has gotten grants for Johnson County veterans in the amount of $19,631 since July 1, 2025 alone. If the state fund could not be utilized for the veterans, the county fund would be vastly insufficient for the local needs. His checking account has $2,500 and there is a savings account as well, but those funds could be used up in less than a year if the current need continues or increases. The state’s FY2025 report showed a 33% increase in applications compared to prior norms.
LB1072 was introduced to the Legislature by Speaker of the Legislature John Arch at the request of Governor Jim Pillen. This bill would take $5,000,000 from the Nebraska Veterans Aid Fund principal over two years. This would reduce the fund’s principal by 10% and thus reduce income to the fund that pays Nebraska 
Veterans Aid grants, which provide emergency assistance for food, shelter, utilities, medical needs, funerals, and other essential expenses when a veteran has no other resources available.
Looking at the history of the NVA Fund, the money that went into the fund came in 1921 from money originally set aside to pay wartime bonuses to Nebraskans returning from World War I. The fund created a permanent endowment dedicated to helping veterans facing financial hardship. For more than a century, the NVA Fund has provided emergency assistance to veterans. These funds were never general state revenues.
Although the state is in a difficult period of reduced revenue and tighter budgets, the Nebraska Veterans Council said, in a letter to the governor, “utilizing the principal of the NVA Fund to address general budget shortfalls or ongoing operational deficits is outside both the historical and statutory intent of the fund.”
Anyone who is concerned about the intent of this Legislative Bill is asked to contact Appropriations Committee senators before Monday: Chairperson Robert Clements, Vice Chairperson Christy Armendariz, and Senators, Michaela Cavanaugh, Myron Dorn, Robert Dover, Loren Lippincott, Jason Prokop, Ashlei Spivey, and Paul Strommen.