Now is the time to make your voice heard.

Across our state, critical legislation is moving forward that directly impacts how we honor our fallen, care for our homeless veterans, and fulfill our sacred promise to those still missing in action. These bills deserve strong bipartisan support — and they need to hear from you.

The Wisconsin VFW strongly supports Senate Bill 810 and Assembly Bill 817, which increases the reimbursement rate for the provision of military funeral honors. Under current law, the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs coordinates military funeral honors for deceased members and former members of the armed forces. When these honors are performed by local units of member organizations of the Council on Veterans Programs or by certified veterans organizations, the Department reimburses the organization for its costs in an amount of up to $50 per funeral. Senate Bill 810 increases this reimbursement to $100 per funeral.

This increase is both reasonable and necessary. The cost of providing military funeral honors has steadily risen due to fuel prices, uniform maintenance, equipment costs, training requirements, and the time commitment of volunteer honor guard members. For many local veterans organizations, particularly in rural communities, the current reimbursement no longer reflects the true cost of honoring our fallen comrades with dignity and precision.

Honoring a veteran at their final resting place is one of the most sacred responsibilities we have. Senate Bill 810 helps ensure that this tradition remains strong and sustainable across Wisconsin.

But that is not all.

We THANK YOU for our Legislators for their support on Senate Bill 608 and Assembly Bill 596, which establishes a state matching grant program for recipients of federal per diem payments and makes an appropriation to strengthen programs that serve homeless veterans in Wisconsin.

Under current federal law, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awards per diem payments to eligible organizations that furnish services to homeless veterans in an amount of up to $82.73 per day per veteran housed. Senate Bill 608 builds on this federal foundation by appropriating $950,000 in each fiscal year of the 2025–26 biennium to the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs to provide state matching grants to eligible entities that already receive federal per diem payments.

This legislation creates a state-matching per diem program for organizations that, on the date of their application, have been awarded federal per diem funding for the upcoming fiscal year. Under the bill, WDVA may approve state grants of $25 per day per veteran housed and will distribute those funds quarterly based on the number of veterans served in the previous quarter.

In effect, this provides a $25 per day state “bonus” on top of the existing federal per diem rate, supporting nonprofit organizations that serve homeless veterans outside of WDVA-operated Grant and Per Diem programs. This additional funding will help offset increasing operational costs, sustain program capacity, and ensure that homeless veterans receive the quality care, case management, and transitional support they deserve.

As of January 2025, four nonprofit organizations in Wisconsin would qualify for these state matching grants:

• Porchlight Inc.
• Rock Valley Community Programs
• Center for Veterans Issues
• Guest House of Milwaukee

Together, these programs represent 158 available beds statewide — 158 lifelines for veterans working toward employment, recovery, and independence. These bills will not reopen former facilities in Chippewa Falls or Green Bay, and we recognize the continued gap in northern and western Wisconsin. But they will strengthen the network that remains and ensure it does not weaken further.

And finally, Assembly Bill 641 supports the University of Wisconsin Missing-in-Action Recovery and Identification Project at the University of Wisconsin–Madison — the premier program of its kind in the nation and the first academic institution to partner with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to recover and identify our missing service members.

More than 83,000 Americans remain missing in action since World War II — including over 1,500 from Wisconsin.

They were not statistics. They were fathers and mothers. Husbands and wives. Brothers and sisters. Sons and daughters who stepped forward and never came home.

Federal funding only goes so far. Without state support, Wisconsin’s missing compete for limited resources. The request — $500,000 over four years — is modest in any budgetary sense. But to families who have waited decades for answers, it is priceless.

When veterans were asked if this mattered, they answered. Under Past VFW State Commander Corey Geiseler’s Operation Bring Them Home initiative, VFW Posts and members across Wisconsin raised more than $62,000 in just five months because they believe deeply that bringing our missing home is a sacred obligation.

Now we ask: Will the State of Wisconsin stand with them?

Here’s What You Can Do

1. Click the “Action” link.
2. Call your State Senator and State Representative.
3. Email them directly.
4. Ask them to support Senate Bill 810, Senate Bill 608, and Assembly Bill 641.
5. Share why these issues matter to you personally.

Legislators listen when veterans speak. They listen when family members speak. They listen when communities speak with one voice.

This is about dignity at a veteran’s final salute.
This is about shelter and stability for those who have fallen on hard times.
This is about keeping a sacred promise: We never leave anyone behind.

Reach out today. Encourage your Post, Auxiliary, family members, and community partners to do the same.

Together, we can ensure Wisconsin honors its veterans — in life, in death, and in the promise to bring them home.