On September 30th, two Wisconsin housing shelters for veterans shut down due to lack of funding. One was in Green Bay and the other, Klein Hall, was in Chippewa Falls, which is in Rep Drunken Van Orden’s district.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers had included an extra $1.9 million dollars for the agency overseeing these two halls, but Republicans legislators rejected the extra funding. Despite the blame laying with his fellow Republicans, DVO didn’t hesitate to blame Evers for the situation. Just one thing though, DVO could have easily resolved the problem himself if he wasn’t off getting plastered somewhere:
Both the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) and the Veterans Housing and Recovery Program oversaw Klein Hall. According to a report from Wisconsin Public Radio, the bulk of funding for the facility relied on daily reimbursements from the federal government in addition to state funds. During a press conference on Oct. 1, state Sen. Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) noted that Democrats tried to include funding for veterans shelters multiple times in budget negotiations, with no support from the Republican majority.
Hesselbein also noted that Van Orden could have requested additional federal funding.
“He could have requested the funds to keep the facilities open, and he didn’t,” she said of Van Orden.
