Gov. Janet Mills has signed a bill into law that's designed to keep the Maine Veterans' Homes in Caribou and Machias open.
The Senate voted unanimously to enact the legislation Thursday afternoon hours before the governor added her signature.
The law is intended to help Maine Veterans' Homes and others develop a long-term plan for the facilities, which are struggling with financial losses, staffing shortages and a declining veteran population.
The bill's original sponsor, Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, said he's still concerned about what might eventually happen to the homes. He continued to field calls from residents and family members during the six weeks it took for the legislature to write, finalize and enact this legislation.
"Still today, after all this great support and after unanimous support out of committee, I have people who continually talk about [how] there's no amount of money that we can give to these homes to fix them, to keep them open," Jackson said Thursday from the Senate floor. "I have constituents that have been calling telling me that they've been told they have to move their parents, move their parents to a facility three or more hours away from them. That gives me a lot of concern."
The law creates a new process, which includes a public hearing and legislative approval, that Maine Veterans' Homes must follow to close a facility in the future. It also includes the names of all six Maine Veterans' Homes in statute.
And it sets aside about $3.5 million in the state's supplemental budget package to cover financial losses at Maine Veterans' Homes.
Jackson said he and others worked with the legislature's appropriations committee secure commitments for the funding.
And Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop, the Senate chairman of the veterans and legal affairs committee, said Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey had assured lawmakers that the legislature has the authority to provide oversight over the homes.
