Lawmakers to act on Soldiers’ Home rebuild bill
Debate continues as deadline looms
Legislative leaders outlined their plans to pass the $400 million bond bill for building a new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home as they race against the clock to secure federal funding for the project.
The state House of Representatives plans to act on the bill filed by Gov. Charlie Baker next week, with the Senate to follow “in the coming weeks,” according to a joint statement Friday from House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka.
Lawmakers have already blown two soft deadlines related to physical improvements and oversight at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, where a coronavirus outbreak last spring led to the deaths of 76 veterans. The virus later felled another veteran who’d been living off-site.
The governor filed a bill in February that would fund construction of a new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home and urged lawmakers to “act quickly” to pass the legislation by April 1 in order to qualify for a 65% matching grant from the federal Veterans Administration for the eight-story, 223- to 234-bed project.
Lawmakers have pushed back against that timeline in several hearings, including during a Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets session earlier this week before members voted to advance the bond bill.
The state must submit an initial application by April 15 and a final application by Aug. 1 to secure the federal matching grant. The state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance can’t begin the required design development for the final application until the Legislature authorizes funding.
Missing those deadlines means the state would have to wait at least another year to apply for federal aid for the project, officials have warned.
Top lawmakers on Friday also vowed to advance reforms this session to improve oversight at the facility.
“We recognize that in order to truly provide the services our veterans deserve, we must build on our previous work to reform the statewide structure and governance system for veterans’ homes and services,” the House and Senate leaders said in their statement. “Therefore, we are committed to advancing reforms this session to modernize our service model, and the state’s role in overseeing these services, to more effectively meet the needs of the changing veteran population while recognizing the need for regional equity.”
A special legislative committee investigating the deadly coronavirus outbreak was supposed to file its report by the end of March. But lawmakers requested an extension after expanding their scope to include longtime staffing and training issues at the soldiers’ home.
The committee will now hold its ninth hearing on Tuesday, this one focused on communication and the chain of command at the facility. Paul Moran, chief of staff at the Department of Veterans’ Services, is expected to testify.
Mariano and Spilka said the commission will “complete its work soon and we will do the necessary due diligence to advance their recommendations into law.”