AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine Veterans’ Homes will get $2.6 million from a state marijuana fund to close a funding gap between Medicare rates and the cost of caring for Mainers who served in the military under a plan approved by lawmakers on Wednesday.
But the one-time money advanced out of the budget committee is only a patch for next year, which means the Legislature will need to discuss a long-term funding source when it returns in January to keep the organization afloat, both advocates and officials said.
The Senate needs to sign off on the funding before sending it to Gov. Janet Mills for final approval. Lawmakers on the budget panel who were making final decisions Wednesday night on which bills to fund this year approved the one-time money for Maine Veterans’ Homes by pulling the $2.6 million from a medical marijuana fund.
Sen. Brad Farrin, R-Norridgewock, who sponsored the bill to fund the group that operates six homes around the state serving more than 500 veterans, said the $2.6 million and about $765,000 that Mills included in her recently approved addition to a two-year budget will help unlock federal funding to close a $10.3 million funding gap for Maine Veterans’ Homes.
“While it’s good and kind of takes the pressure off for a year, we basically just kicked the can down the road,” Farrin said Thursday. “We’ll have to go back and look at this again.”
The new funding arose from discussions on a more sustainable path forward for Maine Veterans’ Homes that ramped up after Mills and the Legislature approved $3.5 million in 2022 to prevent two of the more remote homes in Caribou and Machias from closing.
The other Maine Veterans’ Homes facilities are in Augusta, Bangor, South Paris and Scarborough. The Legislature established Maine Veterans’ Homes in 1977 as a quasi-state entity, but the homes typically only receive funding from Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance and charitable donations.
The organization is “confident the conversation will continue in the Legislature,” spokesperson Christine Henson said.
“The organization is extremely grateful for the time and attention that legislators have paid to our plight and to listening to the real situation as it exists for us,” Henson said.
In February, lawmakers also voted to launch an investigation into the finances of Maine Veterans’ Homes following a whistleblower complaint that questioned its fiscal decisions. Henson said Thursday the organization continues to respond to the inquiry and is “very confident in our fiscal management.”