Democratic Gubernatorial Frontrunner Francesca Hong Releases New Policy to Serve Wisconsin’s 300,000+ Veterans, Calls Out Backslide on Veteran Homelessness
Plan would end veteran homelessness, expand benefits, and rebuild a fragmented support system as Wisconsin moves in the opposite direction of the rest of the country.
MADISON, Wis. — On Memorial Day, gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong released a comprehensive policy plan to serve Wisconsin’s more than 300,000 veterans, calling out a state support system that is underfunded, fragmented, and failing the people who served.
After years of progress, veteran homelessness in Wisconsin is rising again. In the winter of 2024 — the most recent figures available — the number of homeless veterans hit the highest count since 2019. Over the same period, national veteran homelessness fell nearly 8 percent to its lowest level since HUD began tracking the figure.
“Republicans in the legislature are moving Wisconsin backwards on this issue,” Hong said. “Their budget forced veteran housing facilities to close and cut suicide prevention programs, and they’ve blocked every Democratic attempt to fix it.”
The 2025-27 state budget defunded the Veterans Housing and Recovery Program, forcing two of the state’s three transitional housing facilities for homeless veterans to close. Klein Hall in Chippewa Falls, which has helped roughly 1,000 Wisconsin veterans secure permanent housing since opening in 2007, is among the facilities slated to close this fall. Republicans also stripped Governor Evers’ funding request for the Veterans Outreach and Recovery Program — a lifeline for veterans facing mental health crises — costing the program seven positions last October. At the federal level, the Trump administration’s cuts to the VA are rolling back gains in wait times and essential care.
Hong’s veterans plan is built around three priorities:
- Ending veteran homelessness. As governor, Hong will make ending veteran homelessness a cabinet-level priority, restore funding to the Veterans Housing and Recovery Program, reopen the shuttered transitional housing facilities, and create new incentives — including state-administered security deposit guarantees and risk mitigation payments — to bring landlords into the solution. The plan also calls for real-time data systems to coordinate outreach across agencies and ensure no veteran falls through the cracks.
- Expanding benefits that meet veterans’ actual needs. Hong’s plan will raise the Veterans Assistance Grant ceiling from $3,000 to $5,000 and create “fast track” eligibility for veterans facing eviction or utility shutoff. The plan strengthens the Veterans Outreach and Recovery Program — which provides wraparound mental health, substance use, and housing services — and cuts the red tape blocking healthcare access, including extending the invoice window and allowing retroactive coverage extensions.
- Smoothing the transition to civilian life. Hong will double the existing retraining grant ceiling and extend grant durations, create a Veterans Benefits Navigator program modeled on Illinois’s Warrior Assistance Program to embed outreach workers in community settings, and establish a state-funded veteran legal services program to support veterans seeking discharge upgrades.
“On Memorial Day, we honor the service members who made the ultimate sacrifice,” said Hong. “Honoring the fallen means keeping the promise to every person who wears the uniform — and right now, Wisconsin is breaking that promise. We have the resources to take care of the people who served us. What we’ve lacked is the political will.”
The full plan is available at www.francescahong.com/policy/veterans.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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