OP-ED: Wisconsin Republicans Refusing to Help Local Veterans

No matter how they twist it, Wisconsin Republicans have repeatedly refused to meaningfully support our local veterans across the Badger State. 

Image related to OP-ED: Wisconsin Republicans Refusing to Help Local Veterans
Image related to OP-ED: Wisconsin Republicans Refusing to Help Local Veterans

No matter how they twist it, Wisconsin Republicans have repeatedly refused to meaningfully support our local veterans across the Badger State. 

Whether it’s Congressman Derrick Van Orden saying he hopes funding gets cut at the Department of Veterans Affairs, or GOP state legislators blocking funding for homeless veterans, our Republican lawmakers’ priorities are in all the wrong places when it comes to supporting the men and women who have served our country. 

In 2025 alone, a handful of Republicans in Wisconsin voted against making needed improvements to King Veterans Home, blocked funding for veterans’ mental health, voted against expanding the veterans’ property tax credit, and blocked $2 million in funding to provide housing for homeless veterans. 

When given a chance to sufficiently fund these specific programs for veterans in our most recent state budget, Republicans on the budget committee like Sen. Howard Marklein, Sen. Romaine Quinn, and Rep. Shannon Zimmerman voted no.

This Veterans Day and beyond, call your state and federal lawmakers and remind them that Wisconsin veterans deserve more than just words. They deserve meaningful action from the lawmakers who were elected to represent them.

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A Better Wisconsin Together is a state-based research and communications hub for progressives and is an affiliate of ProgressNow.

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