Issue Position: Addressing the Needs of Our Military Veterans

Issue Position

Our nation's veterans will always be a priority for me. I am grateful many of my colleagues in the General Assembly joined me in passing legislation to secure funding for our local veterans nursing home. This work has been one of my proudest legislative accomplishments. It has been an honor to work with veterans at the state and local level to take the necessary steps to bring this nursing facility to life. I can say this with absolute certainty: the people of Edmonson County, Warren County and Southcentral Kentucky know how to honor our veterans.

House Bill 24 (2020) -- primarily sponsored by M. Meredith; signed into law, this legislation will help speed up plans to bring a fifth veterans' nursing facility to Kentucky. The bill appropriated $2.5 million in state moneys needed to complete design and pre-construction work to expedite construction of the 90-bed facility in Bowling Green. One hundred percent of the design and pre-construction work must be completed before federal funding will be allocated.

House Bill 399 (2019) -- cosponsored by M. Meredith; this law allows military children whose families are transferring to Kentucky to pre-enroll in a local school.

House Bill 13 (2017) -- primarily sponsored by M. Meredith; this measure committed $10.5 million in matching state bond funds for a veterans' nursing home in Bowling Green. House Bill 13 is a necessary step for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to allocate federal dollars to begin construction on the much-needed 90-bed facility, which will serve 17 counties in Southcentral Kentucky.

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