Board Minutes April 2007

EXHIBIT 1
WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

WDVA Briefing of April 19, 2007
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Board Members Present WDVA Staff Members Present
Peter Moran Bill Kloster, Acting Secretary
Marv Freedman Anthony Hardie, Executive Assistant
Rodney C. Moen Bill Crowley, Commandant, King
William Andersen Glen Brower, Commandant, Union Grove
Ken Wendt John Rosinski, Chief Legal Counsel
Walter Stenavich Mike Diaz, Division of Veterans Homes
Mack Hughes Andrew Schuster, Communications Director
Steve Stead, WVH-King
Legislative & Program Review Members Present Gary Wistrom, Adjutant
Marv Freedman Ken Abrahamsen, Budget Director
Vera Roddy Colleen Holtan, Budget Office
Steve Lawrence Ken Black, Division of Veterans Benefits
Duane Miskulin Shari McCann, WVH-King
Jim Young
Tim Thiers Council on Veterans Programs Present
Paul Weprinsky Russ Alsteen, NCUSA
Paul Bialk, MCL
Long Term Care Committee Members Present Cleon Brown, USSVWWII
Rod Moen Rick Cherone, MOPH
Ken Wendt Jesse Haro, CWV
Arnold Miller Paul Fine, ANU
Jerry Rabetski Walter Peterson, Am ExPOWs
Jerry Polus Jerry Rabetski, PLAV
Alan Walker Vera Roddy, UWV
William Sims, NABV
Financial Committee Members Present Clif Sorenson, WACVO
Bill Andersen Clarence Stoel, DAV
Walter Stenavich Tim Thiers, AMVETS
Jim Gausmann Paul Weprinsky, JWV
Jim Endres
Joe Campbell Others Present
Al Kochenderfer Donna Chrzas, Columbia CVSO
Rock Larson, Wood CVSO
CVSO Advisory Council Scott Berger, Marathon CVSO
Mark Grams, Dodge CVSO Ken Rock, Door CVSO
Ted Mynyk, Iowa CVSO Terry MacDonald, AMVETS 51, Sturgeon Bay
Andrew Clark, Outagamie CVSO Peter Santner, AMVETS 51, Sturgeon Bay
Michael Jackson, Dane CVSO Holly Hoppe, Oconto CVSO
Nick Benzinger, Shawano CVSO
Mike Haley, Chippewa CVSO
John Solis, Rock CVSO
Robert Stone, Rusk CVSO
Fred Kaiser, Waushara CVSO
The briefing session by WDVA staff for Board, Council and Committee members
commenced at 12:30 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
1. Certification of Notice of Meeting and Roll Call

Roll call of Board members: 7 members present for a quorum.
Roll call of CVSO Advisory Council members: 9 members present for a quorum.
Roll call of Legislative and Program Review Committee members: 7 members present, 4
members excused. Quorum present.
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Roll call of Long-Term Care Committee members: 6 members present; 6 members
excused.
Roll call of Financial Committee members: 6 members present; 4 members excused.
Quorum present.
Roll call of Council on Veterans Programs members: 14 members present, 8 members
excused, and 2 vacancies. Quorum present.
2. Legislative Report
Mr. Hardie reported that the Joint Finance Committee has not yet begun to hold
agency briefings. WDVA has not been asked to testify before the Joint Committee on
Finance, however, work continues with the members of the Joint Committee on
Finance, the Veterans Committees of both chambers and others. WDVA’s budget is
available on the WDVA Web site. WDVA is very pleased with the Governor’s
recommendations in Senate Bill 40 with the exception of the all-agency attorney
consolidation. The WDVA would like to have added into Senate Bill 40 General
Purpose Revenue of just under $13 million. The second item would be to increase
WDVA’s total state bonding volume cap. Other items:
• Requesting a Director of Development two-year project position to help increase
privately donated dollars for our museum project. It is currently a $130 million
project approved previously by the Legislature to combine in a single facility but
with distinct entities the Veterans Museum, the State Historical Museum and
WDVA Headquarters.
• Changes to cemetery eligibility. Remove the residency requirement so that if a
service member is killed in action or dies in the line of duty while on active duty, if
their survivors wish burial in a federally supported state veterans cemetery, they
would be able to be buried at Spooner, Union Grove or King with this change.
• Changes to the Aid to Needy Veteran Grant Program.
• Allowing the transfer of funds from the Veterans Trust Fund back to the Veterans
Homes fund. SB 40 did include a provision to allow for a transfer of up to a $7
million surplus at the Veterans Home at King to the Veterans Trust Fund.
• Two statutory issues are the purchase of creditable service under the Wisconsin
Retirement System and amending SB 40 with regards to the property tax credit.
Some bills of interest: SB 19 has to do with creditable military service. SB 49

and AB 108 are bills proposing free access to state parks and trails by certain disabled
veterans and former prisoners of war. SB 100 is a tuition fee remission bill eligibility
change. SB 101 is a property tax credit issue. SB 143 would change the membership
on the Council on Veterans Programs. AB 63 proposes Hire a Veteran Week, Veteran
Recognition Week, and veterans who volunteer in schools. AB 75 offers assistance for
veterans affected by depleted uranium. AB 222 is the GI Jobs bill that would provide an
$8,000 tax credit to businesses who hire veterans. AB 243 prohibits consideration of
veterans’ disability payments when ordering maintenance.
On the federal side, when Mr. Hardie is in Washington, DC next Friday he will be
working on three key issues with the Wisconsin Delegation. (1) Qualified Veterans
Mortgage Bond program request to increase the bonding cap to $100 million. (2) Burial
plot allowance increase from $300 to $1,000. (3) Troops to Teachers.
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Events:
• Supermarket held in Menomonee on March 22-23 was well attended. Planning
is currently underway for the Rhinelander Supermarket on May 3-4 and
Janesville Supermarket on May 12th. There will be three more events spread
throughout the state in the fall.
• February 28th there was a news release put out by the Governor’s office about
the Secretary of WDVA being deployed to Iraq.
• The veterans care packet was rolled out by the Senate and Assembly Democrats
on March 27th followed immediately thereafter by a number of veterans bills
being rolled out by Senate and Assembly Republicans.
• Loans’ marketing was March 18th through April 6th.
• The delegation that came down from Superior on February 27th spoke with
WDVA officials on issues in northern Wisconsin.
• The Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council meeting was held in Madison on February
28th.
• On March 29th a Women’s History Month panel met.
• Memorial Day events are scheduled statewide, the service organizations state
conventions and the CVSO Association national convention and the National
Wheelchair Games are all upcoming.
• The Milwaukee Brewers Stars and Stripes Sundays are again working with
WDVA through Mission Welcome Home.
Mr. Moen said if money is transferred out of the Veterans Homes Fund, there is
currently no provision to transfer it back. What is the bill number that would allow that?
Mr. Hardie said a bill is not yet drafted but it is a measure that WDVA is requesting the
Joint Committee on Finance to introduce. Appropriate language is being drafted to
allow for the flexibility of a reverse transfer back into the Homes fund. If it isn’t done in
the budgetary process, then we have to prepare separate legislation, which is more
challenging, or we would have to wait until the next budget. Mr. Moen said in any case
he would like for it to come before the Board prior to a transfer. Mr. Kloster said any
action of that type would be briefed to the Board for its concurrence prior to a transfer.
Although there is no requirement for Board approval, Mr. Kloster said it is appropriate
and right to get that approval.
Mr. Jackson asked what changes were being made to the Aid to Needy Veterans
Program. Mr. Hardie said measures proposed include items that were requested by the
Department but not recommended in SB40, and have been detailed in the Department’s
budget summary that has been publicly distributed. For example, deleting the current
dental care maximum reimbursement of $2,500 and simply allowing its use all the way
up to the cap; second is removing the requirement that in order to qualify for
subsistence aid for a disaster, there needs to be a simultaneous loss of income; and
recreating the statutory section relating to the Aid to Military Families Program.
Mr. Jackson said a tentative hearing date was mentioned for May 2nd, what is
that hearing for? Mr. Hardie said the Assembly Veterans Committee is tentatively
holding a hearing on a number of veteran’s bills. We will learn more when that is
publicly announced.
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Mr. Jackson asked, the Troops to Teachers (TTT) co-sponsorship, what will this
bill do or what is your hope? Mr. Hardie said there was an administrative rule making
process by the US Department of Education. It seems as though they saw TTT only
doing one thing when it actually does two things. The one thing was to help put
teachers into low income schools. But, it is a transition program for military service
members as well, helping to provide another job opportunity and providing special aid
for service members transitioning from the military to be able to become teachers. The
second part was lost by this rule that the US Department of Education successfully
introduced, passed and is now in effect. In short, we had been able to use TTT in the
majority of the school districts statewide and at this point now we can use them in only
12-17 small school districts with 300-500 students, with the exception of Milwaukee,
Racine, and Madison. Our proposal would re-expand the TTT program so that we could
place service members successfully completing the program in far more school districts
that may have need for these teachers as well.
Mr. Alsteen asked about the Qualified Veterans Mortgage Bond (QVMB) meeting
in Washington, DC next week. Do you have the time and location and possibility of
access, is there going to be some security concerns, how do you get in? Mr. Hardie
said he has individual meetings with each office of the Wisconsin delegation. Some
appointments are set and he awaits a call back from others. If someone wanted to go
with Mr. Hardie to Washington on Friday, he would be happy to speak to them about that.
At this point it is just a full day for Mr. Hardie to be on the Hill working with all the
Wisconsin Delegation.
Mr. Haley asked about the Veterans Home in Chippewa Falls. Mr. Hardie said
WDVA received statutory authority at the state level to build a Home in Chippewa Falls
and to move forward with a veteran’s campus in Chippewa Falls. In terms of when that
happens, approval by the federal government has occurred but we are now awaiting
funding and that depends on each annual appropriation by the Congress. We are on
the list and we are waiting for them to fund far enough down the list. It is a 65% federal
to 35% state matching grant. At this point given how Congress has been appropriating,
we think we will get the money in about 2009 and be able to move forward at that time.
Mr. Moran said that the homeless veterans operation will be starting up yet this fall, is
that not the plan? Mr. Hardie said yes it would start by around Labor Day.
3. Programs Report—Ken Black

Mr. Black reviewed bulletins that were recently issued: Bulletin #783 notified
CVSOs that the Department is launching a spring marketing campaign to promote the
loan programs; a Lenders’ Bulletin was issued notifying them of the campaign and
reminding them that we have 6% money available in the Home Loan Program.
Cemetery Report: The Northern Cemetery phase one expansion of the private
vault gardens and cremation garden will begin in May and should be completed by
June. The end result will be 460 burial spaces for vaults and 444 in-ground cremation
spaces. Phase two includes expansion of the columbarium and scattering garden. Bid
opening is April 26th, construction to start around June and completion around the
September time frame. The two new columbariums will result in 704 niches--enough
columbarium space for the next seven to eight years. During the month of May a press
release will announce the expansion of the Southern Cemetery. Construction is
expected to begin in the middle of fiscal year 2008 and be completed late fiscal year
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2009. The update will consist of approximately 5,000 additional grave spaces, 1,800
niches for new columbariums, in-ground cremation garden and scattering garden. This
will be conducted in a phased operation. There are 320 niches currently remaining and
they will be filled by July 2008. Casket space is sufficient through May 2011. The
current burial fee of $450 for dependents is being reviewed based on increased
operational costs and may have to be increased by FY2008. The last fee increase was
May 1, 2005.
Military Funeral Honors: The number of honors provided to families continues to

increase and a 13% overall increase is expected in fiscal year 2007. In addition to the
total honors increasing, the stipend requests continue to increase as well. The
Department of Military Affairs has halted their stipend program effective April 1st. We
have enough funds to carry us out this fiscal year. There should be no disruption to the
VSO community regarding reimbursement stipends for fiscal year 2007.
Women Veterans: Earlier this year the Women’s Veterans Program hosted a
forum for women veterans and women in the military. The forum resulted in the
creation of a committee for the program and planning of the upcoming women veterans’
conference which is scheduled for September 28-29 at Ft. McCoy. In addition a survey
was designed and sent out to determine women veterans demographics. So far we’ve
gotten about 280 surveys back. Additionally the Rural Women Health Program received
a $5,000 grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Heart Trust
Fund to help defray the cost of the conference.
Veterans Assistance Program: Both parties have come to an agreement on the

CVI contract with Union Grove and King. We anticipate handing the program over to
CVI by the first of May. The VA Homeless per diem rate for each veteran has increased
to a maximum of $31.30 per day. We continue to work on the final details in regard to
maintenance requirements in Cottage 16 at the Union Grove veteran’s homeless site.
The federal VA has identified some possible building code issues for Cottage 16 that
must be addressed prior to moving into the new building. Chippewa Falls currently has
two employees on site and working on a program to accept future residents.
Loans and Grants: The housing market is still rather soft, though interest rates
remain stable and home buying activity typically heats up in the spring and summer
months. Volume in the Home Loan Program was $4.7 million in February, $2.8 million
in March and the beginning of April to date we have $1.4 million expended. At 6% our
rate is slightly below market for a 30 year fixed mortgage. The Personal Loan Program
volume was $465,073 in February, $265,591 in March and from the beginning of April to
date we have distributed $420,600. Volume in the Home Improvement Loan Program
was $210,800 in February, $157,530 in March and April to date we have distributed
$123,000. The spring marketing campaign that just concluded was designed to boost
the volume in all three of our loan programs.
The Veterans Trust Fund delinquency rate was 2.40% in February and 2.04% in
March. March’s delinquency rate was the lowest we’ve seen in our portfolio since April
2006. WDVA does not engage in sub-prime mortgage lending nor the practices
associated with that market and therefore we are not affected by the troubles currently
afflicting that market.
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Education Programs: Our State Approving Agency (SAA) staff has experienced
a significant increase in the calls from veterans checking on eligibility and when they will
receive their Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) payment. The VA’s St. Louis Regional
Processing Office has a 10 – 12 week backlog. The SAA funding expires on 9/30/07.
As the law currently stands, all SAAs (55 teams) will be cut by 30%, which could greatly
reduce the level of oversight the SAA provides to schools through which veterans use
the MGIB.
During March and early April the Department participated in seven National
Guard reintegration events where we provided approximately 1,165 soldiers with
information on veterans’ benefits and services. Reserve Demobilization: USA-R 397th
EN BTN will return in the fall of 2007 and will be offered state veterans benefits
information upon their return.
4. Pre-Application Requirement Process Action Team Report

A Process Action Team was convened in March to evaluate the VetEd pre-
application. The team consisted of WDVA members, CVSOs, University members and
members from Wisconsin’s Veterans Service Officer community. They reviewed the
purpose of the pre-app, its ability as a forecasting tool, timeline to change the statute if
deemed necessary, an alternative for the pre-app as well as the impact of not having a
pre-app. The data has been placed in a report to be distributed to the team members
next week for their review. The next step will be to provide recommendations to the
Secretary, at which time he will determine the direction of the team.
5. Veterans Homes Report

Commandant Crowley reported that the King Home census was 710 at the end
of March. Applications are being received, screened and processed on a daily basis
with 64 pending applications. The average time from receipt of application to date of
admission is 37 days. The acuity of care level remains high with no significant change.
The Home Exchange operation had no significant changes to report. In the

months of February and March there were receipts of $37,855 with a net gain of
$769.61. The Gifts and Bequests total revenues since the last report: $20,136 and
expenditures from that account: $26,740 for a net loss of $6,604.
Current Projects at King: The architect has been selected for the resident ceiling
lifts project. The grant application is on the VA’s priority list; however, funds have not
yet been set aside. The architect has been selected for the Olson Hall domestic water
piping replacement project. The grant application is on the VA’s priority list; however,
funds are not currently set aside. The Steam condensate line cutover will occur this
spring. This project replaces underground steam/condensate return lines to several
areas of the Home. The WDVA has billed the VA for 65% of the cost (up to $442,141)
and has received to date $387,141.
On April 18th over 250 of the Home’s volunteers attended a volunteer recognition
banquet at the Grand Seasons Hotel. Mr. Freedman and Mr. Wendt were in attendance
representing the Board of Veterans Affairs. May 12th is the Polish Legion of American
Veterans (PLAV) King Day and May 20th is the Annual Open House at the Veterans
Home-King. It is the 120th anniversary of the founding of the Veterans Home at King.
There will be lakeside services and cemetery services on Memorial Day. Volunteers will
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arrive at the cemetery at 6 a.m. to set flags on over 5,000 graves. Paul Morin the
current National Commander the American Legion representing about 3 million veterans
and 1 ½ million members of the American Legion Auxiliary will be visiting the State of
Wisconsin and specifically the King Home on Monday, April 23rd.
An offer of employment was extended to Chris Hotvedt to return to the Veterans

Home at King to the position of Deputy Commandant. She has declined that offer.
Commandant Crowley introduced Shari McCann from his office who is taking the
minutes of the meeting. Also attending is Steve Stead, Director of Finance at King. Bill
Kloster introduced Mike Diaz, who will be working with the two Commandants. Mike is
taking over for Tom Rhatican who is currently at orientation into the War College.
Acting Secretary Kloster added to Mr. Crowley’s comments on the staffing levels
of the nurses at the Home and the industry trend toward difficulty in finding nurses.
About two weeks ago the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary
Roberta Gassman had a press release talking about the shortage of nurses in the state.
DWD was looking at doing a nurse stipend program, continuing educational program
opportunities for nurses once they get on the job and career ladders. Mr. Kloster
wanted to point out that those are all things that under Commandant Crowley’s
leadership and guidance have been instituted at the Veterans Home at King.
Mr. Freedman asked if during the last decade the capacity of King, as far as total
number of beds available, has remained constant or has it changed? Mr. Crowley said
it has not changed. The last time it changed was with the opening of Ainsworth Hall in
1993.
Mr. Moen spent over three hours at King yesterday. A lot of issues and concerns
were answered. He mentioned that Swiss steak was served for lunch and it was very
good. He received a petition signed by a number of members and he made it a point to
talk to some of the people who had signed the petition. He went into rooms in various
buildings and he did not have a single person tell him that they were disappointed or
discouraged by the quality of care there. Secondly, he asked about the turnovers in
Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), Mr. Moen’s wife is a former director of nursing in a
nursing home. The last year before she retired they had a 40% turnover of the CNAs.
When Mr. Moen talked to King’s Director of Nursing, he learned that turnover at King is
virtually nil. Mr. Moen stopped by one of the cottages and talked to a couple residing
there and they were very, very pleased. They pay $4,000 a month and that includes
their meds, clothing, everything except for their telephone and internet. Mr. Crowley
said that cottage members are required to be capable of semi-independent living. They
are not in need of skilled nursing care and there is no reimbursement under Title 19
because they are not in skilled care, however, there is partial reimbursement in the form
of VA per diem from the federal VA.
Commandant Brower said that as of March 31, 2007 the skilled nursing facility
has 48 members. The assisted living building has 109 members. The census has been
holding at about 48 members primarily due to key part-time nursing positions that have
to be filled on second and third shifts on the weekends. Applications are processed in
about 29 days from the time a person first applies. That process can be expedited to as
short as 3 days under certain circumstances.
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Employment status: 166 employees. Added 18 new employees on April 2nd.
Still have another 100 employees to hire this calendar year.
Construction projects: There is no construction to report regarding Boland Hall,

everything is running properly from a structural point of view. Operationally, admittance
is starting for the second floor and refinements in policies and procedures continue to
be made. The second phase of a federal VA certification process will begin on April
27th. The activity center construction is completed and the entire facility is occupied.
This includes the administrative offices, cook-chill portion of the building, as well as the
chapel and other activity areas. They are looking to contract out the deli, bar and gift
shop, hopefully by July of this year. They are in early discussions with the Workforce
Development Division that offers visually impaired operators to run some concessions.
The food service program has been receiving food from King since November. Fairchild
and Shemanske Halls will see a conversion of 10 double rooms and 15 single rooms.
The architect presented final design details of that project and construction is expected
to begin in September. The bidding should be completed in the July time frame. This
will require a draw down of census and movement of the members in those two
buildings over an extended period of time. The gazebo (donated by the United Auto
Workers) is expected to be constructed by June. Delivery of the two smaller buses is
expected next month with the two larger buses scheduled for delivery some time in the
fall.
The budget amount for fiscal year 2007 for indigent veterans is $208,700. As of
March approximately $147,000 has been spent and about $45,000 is obligated for the
remainder of this fiscal year. This leaves about $16,700 in reserve for unforeseen
member needs.
On Monday, April 23rd the Union Grove Home will host its first volunteer
recognition banquet. About 65 to 75 people are expected to attend the luncheon at a
local restaurant.
Commandant Brower introduced Gary Wistrom. Mr. Wistrom will become the
Acting Commandant of the facility after Mr. Brower’s retirement in July. Gary has been
with the agency for five years; two years as a claims officer, two years as the director for
human resources and this past year as the director for support service operations. Gary
is a 30-year active duty veteran with the U.S. Air Force; he retired as a full Colonel.
Mr. Polus said there are certain positions at the Veterans Homes that require
licensure or certification. What are those positions and are we meeting those
requirements? Mr. Brower said that there are a number of different positions that are
certified and yes, every position that is held meets those criteria. There are no
exceptions. CNAs have to be licensed, practical nurses, registered nurses, registered
dieticians, registered activity therapists, etc. Everyone who is required to have a license
has one. One of the key positions is a licensed administrator and the Deputy
Commandant, Pat Shaughnessy, and the Director of Nursing are licensed
administrators. Mr. Crowley said there is also a requirement to have a medical director
and at King that is a full time position. At Union Grove, they have a contract with a
physician from the outside for that position. At King, they contract for the physician
support with a local clinic to provide all of the doctors that are needed to fill the primary
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care requirements at the Veterans Home and then specialty clinics may be available at
the local hospital in the Fox Valley area or at one of the medical centers operated by the
US Department of Veterans Affairs. All of the physicians who are contracted to provide
care must also be credentialed by the federal VA and that is reviewed on an annual
basis. At the present time the Acting Nursing Home Administrator at King is Donna
Warzynski, the current Director of the Bureau of Nursing. Another member of the staff
is licensed as a nursing home administrator but is not the administrator of record.
Mr. Moen asked about the interim period for the Director of Nursing, he thought it
was for about 90 days. Mr. Crowley said it can be for up to one year. The initial
recognition is for 90 days and it can be extended for up to a year.
Mr. Moen said that Union Grove needed to come up with start up resources and
some of that came from King. How much has been transferred from King to Union
Grove to date and what can the Board expect regarding future financial transfers from
King to Union Grove? Mr. Moran said that issue could be addressed in the financial
report by Mr. Abrahamsen and Ms. Holtan, if not today, then at the June meeting.
Mr. Walker asked about contracting out the deli, bar and gift shop. Are you
looking at the price they would be charging their residents? Mr. Brower said they would
but at this point they have not compared pricing with King. There are regional
differences as well. The vendors providing this product are non-profit but they have to
cover their costs. Mr. Thiers asked that by resourcing this out will that negate tax
exempt status? Mr. Crowley said they are not tax exempt at King.
6. Financial Report—Colleen Holtan

Ms. Holtan reported for fiscal year 2007 through March 31st. The assets at King
total $49.9 million, about half of which is invested in fixed assets net of depreciation.
Operating expenses have exceeded operating revenue resulting in a loss of $2 million
for a period ending March 31st. Excluding revenues from Medicare Part D, revenues
were approximately $700,000 or 2% lower than the same time period last fiscal year,
while operating expenses were $4.5 million higher.
Fund equity has decreased by $1.7 million since the start of the fiscal year but is
$19.2 million greater than at the same time in 2006. The cash and cash equivalents
were $21.5 million as of March 31st, an increase of $6.2 million since the start of the
fiscal year.
Wisconsin Veterans Home-Union Grove assets total $28.4 million while liabilities
and fund equity were $10.4 million and $18 million, respectively. The increase in assets
from 2006 to 2007 is the result of property, plant and equipment and long-term debt
from the construction of the skilled nursing facility and activities center, the difference
between which is net assets or fund equity. Operating revenue is $4.7 million through
March 31, 2007. This amount reflects an adjustment made prior to the close of March
to reduce both revenues and accounts receivable by $306,000 to correct cumulative
fiscal year 2007 accounting errors.
The fiscal year-to-date loss of $3.9 million has caused fund equity to decrease to
$13.9 million on March 31st. Cash uses have exceeded receipts by $4.2 million during
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fiscal year 2007, resulting in an ending cash balance for the WVH-Union Grove of a
negative $1,159,000.
Assets in the Veterans Trust Fund were $72.5 million as of March 31, 2007 which
is $7.7 million less than one year earlier. $2.2 million of the decrease was in the cash
balance, $3.3 million in the unpaid principal balance of personal loans, and $1.6 million
in the unpaid principal balance of all other loan portfolios. The net operating loss
through March 31st was $3.7 million, an increase of 4% over the prior fiscal year to
date. The ending cash balance of $27,355,000 is $1.7 million less than the balance at
the beginning of the fiscal year.
Assets in the Mortgage Loan Repayment Fund totaled $429,293,000 at the end
of March. This total included $250.5 million of unpaid principal balance on mortgage
loans. The Mortgage Loan Repayment Fund had a net loss of $7,644,000 through
March 31st which is $7 million greater than the loss for the same year-to-date period in
2006. The significant increase is due to the accrual of the May debt service payment.
The cash balance in the MLRF was $126.2 million at March 31st, which is an increase of
$21.9 million since June 30th.
The Veterans Trust Fund loan portfolio delinquency rate for March was 2.04%,
overall. The Personal Loan Program delinquency rate was 2.02%. The Primary
Mortgage Loan Program (PMLP) delinquency rate was 0.78%. Sixteen applications
were received for the PMLP in March bringing the total number of applications received
since July 2006, when the $61 million of Qualified Veterans Mortgage Bond (QVMB)
proceeds were made available, to 158.
Mr. Moran asked if Mr. Abrahamsen was prepared at this time to respond to the
previous question by Mr. Moen regarding the transfer of funds. Mr. Abrahamsen said
that he did not have the information with him and, to ensure complete accuracy, he
would prefer to come back to the Board at another time.
Mr. Freedman said it was reported that the Mortgage Loan Repayment Fund had
losses of $7.644 million through March 31, which is $7.043 million greater than the loss
for the same period in 2006. What accounts for that increase? Ms. Holtan said the
accrual for the debt service payment was made prior to March month end so, although
those funds have not yet been disbursed, they have been expensed.
Mr. Freedman said that with respect to mortgage funds that are available, first,
did we have a $61 million bond issue that wasn’t subject to the caps and then for the
current calendar year, do we have a $5 million cap authorization? Ms. Holtan said for
calendar year 2006 we had a $5 million QVMB cap and Acting Secretary Kloster is
going to do a presentation of the available funding for primary mortgage loans during
the CVSO Advisory Council meeting, which will address his questions.
Mr. Freedman asked for clarification that the amount that has been put out in
mortgages and the amount of money that remains is all from that original $61 million
and not subject to the caps? Ms. Holtan said it’s from the $61 million and that
approximately $31 million is the remaining balance of the original $61 million. That
amount does not include $4.45 million that is being held as short-term variable rate
commercial paper. Capital Finance does not want to convert those short-term notes to
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long-term bonding until we are in a position to sell the $10 million of tax-exempt bonding
allowed under the 2007 QVMB volume cap. The total bond issue at that time would be
$14.45 million.
Mr. Freedman asked what is the projection about how long that remaining $31
million will last? Mr. Abrahamsen said that would be reported by Mr. Kloster as part of
his briefing during the CVSO Advisory Council meeting. Mr. Kloster wanted to point out
too, when Colleen says we’re going to be doing all these bond issues, she does not
mean we, WDVA. That is the purview of the Capital Finance Section of the Department
of Administration. They control the issuing of these bonds and the timing and so forth,
we have to work through them.
Mr. Abrahamsen clarified that any bonding we do needs to be approved by the

State Building Commission. Capital Finance in the Department of Administration
basically coordinates getting the bonds sold and getting approval by the Building
Commission in order for WDVA to actually end up with the proceeds. Normally that
process takes about 45 days to complete once we initiate it. He also noted that we
actually have two volume caps that we work under: one is the QVMB volume cap, and
the other is the state volume cap. The reason he pointed this out is because WDVA
had $5 million volume cap under QVMB; however, only $4.45 million of that $5 million
could be issued as short-term variable rate commercial paper since $550,000 was used
to cover the discount on the sale of the$61 million bond issue. Right now, with respect
to the state volume cap, we’re maxed out and until that is raised in the budget, we
cannot issue any more bonds. Mr. Rosinski said when Anthony was speaking to the
$50 million bond cap that was raised in the budget, that’s the state bond cap. That is an
overall constraint on what we can do regardless of what we can do under QVMB.
7. Recess/Adjournment
Mr. Moran adjourned the briefing session.
11
MINUTES
CVSO ADVISORY COUNCIL
April 19, 2007
Members Present WDVA Present

Andrew Clark, Outagamie Bill Kloster, Acting Secretary
Nick Benzinger, Shawano Anthony Hardie, Executive Assistant
Ted Mynyk, Iowa John Rosinski, Chief Legal Counsel
Jim Young, Vernon Bill Crowley, Commandant, WVH-K
Michael Jackson, Dane Glen Brower, Commandant, WVH-UG
Fred Kaiser, Waushara Andy Schuster, Communications
Mike Haley, Chippewa Ken Black, Division of Veterans Benefits
John Solis, Rock Mike Diaz, Division Administrator
Robert Stone, Rusk Gary Wistrom, WVH-UG
Mark Grams, Dodge Steve Stead, WVH-King
Ken Abrahamsen, Budget Director
Colleen Holtan, Budget Office
Shari McCann, Executive Staff Secretary
1. Call to Order and Roll Call.

The meeting of the CVSO Advisory Council was called to order at 2:30 p.m. A quorum
was present. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited followed by a moment of silence for those
who are in harms way.
2. Certification of Notice of Meeting.

So noted.
3. Special Election of Officers

Mr. Solis offered his name into nomination for chairman. Hearing no other nominations,
it was moved by Mr. Mynyk, seconded and carried unanimously on a voice vote to close the
nominations for chair and elect Mr. Solis as Chairman of the CVSO Advisory Council. Mr.
Rosinski explained that this special election is just until August at which time the regular
election of officers will take place. Mr. Mynyk is the current vice chair.
4. Approval of Minutes of February 21, 2007

It was moved by Mr. Mynyk, seconded and carried on a voice vote to approve the
minutes of the February 21, 2007 CVSO Advisory Council meeting.
5. Announcements and Introductions

Mr. Mynyk introduced and welcomed the three new members to the Council. They are
Andy Clark, Robert Stone and Fred Kaiser.
6. WDVA Form 2045 Routing

Ken Black said Form 2045 is entitled Verification of Illness or Disability and is to be
filled out by the veteran patient and doctor for the Assistance to Needy Veterans Grant—
Subsistence Aid. The doctor signs the form and sends it to WDVA. Some CVSOs wanted to
know why that form cannot go back first to them and then to WDVA. Mr. Black said the
Department is attempting to get accurate data and what had happened in the past was alterations
were made on Form 2045. As we went from the old health care program to the Assistance to
1
Needy Veteran Grant Program we wanted to get control of the information and make sure that it
was accurately recorded information by coming directly to WDVA. Some of the concerns are
that the CVSO doesn’t eventually receive that form. Mr Mynyk said that because of this they
would not know if it got done in a timely fashion. Some of the issues CVSOs have with WDVA
programs are that they are very timeline oriented. As a comparison, Mr. Mynyk said verification
of employment, which is certainly a critical document in obtaining a loan; WDVA doesn’t have a
problem with CVSOs being the first to get that form back from the employer.
Mr. Black said he could take a look at the form. He said that when the form is received,
WDVA could easily fax it right away to the CVSO. Mr. Jackson said the issue is a matter of
trust and that WDVA currently receives forms that may have been altered. CVSOs initiate the
application. The CVSO and the veterans have a time frame to meet. If a CVSO doesn’t get the
form first and then get it to WDVA, they don’t know whether that tight deadline is going to be
met or not.
Mr. Black asked to speak off line with CVSO Council members to clearly understand
how that timeline process works for the CVSOs and he can better figure out how to solve this
problem. Mr. Solis asked that he, the Vice Chair, and the President of the Association get
together with Mr. Black and discuss it within the next week.
Mr. Jackson said that within the CVSO community recently there has been a lot of
dissatisfaction expressed about the Assistance to Needy Veterans Program pertaining to the fact
that it seems to be an adversarial process to get an application approved in terms of the amount
of documentation required for verification. Mr. Jackson further cited a statement made by Mr.
Black at the February Council meeting concerning the agenda item: Income Earned Before Date
of Injury Should not Count Against Veteran if Received After Date of Injury. The statement
made at that time was that “WDVA needs to do more research and figure out the overall impact
so that we can make an informed decision as to whether we want to change this code based on
this anomaly.” Mr. Jackson asked if there was feedback on that now. Mr. Black answered that
he is not prepared to report on that matter yet.
Mr. Jackson said in terms of dissatisfaction with the Assistance to Needy Veterans Grant
Subsistence, about 25% of those applications are approved. Mr. Black said it is about 33%
approved and 66% denied. Mr Mynyk asked for a breakdown of the reasons for denials. Many
are withdrawn because the veteran is frustrated trying to work within the framework of the
process. Mr. Black said he would report out the reasons for the denials at the next meeting.
Mr. Grams would like an overview on the ANV grant as a whole to the Council and to
the public and Board and then they would have a better understanding of the program. Brief on
what the program is about now and adding in the statistics.
7. PML Bonding Status

Mr. Kloster talked about the status of Primary Mortgage Loan funding. WDVA has two
caps—one at the state level and when we are dealing with QVMB there is a federal bonding
level. We can only issue so many QVMBs. Right now we are at the limit of what the state
authorizes us to bond for. Since the inception of the housing program in the early 1970’s, the
state has always put a cumulative limit (now in the $2 billion range) on bonds to support
veterans housing. The WDVA budget asked for the authority to sell $180 million worth of
bonds to support its Home Loan Program. The Governor came back in his budget with $50
2
million. That amount will not meet the projected need that we have, but it will come close to
doing what we have right now in potential bonding sources. Because we are at the state cap,
even though we have authority to issue QVMB bonds, we don’t have the authority to do it from
the state cap level.
The hope is for the budget to be passed in mid-August, 2007. Once that is passed and we
get either $50 million or $180 million increase in our bonding cap, we will be able to go ahead
and issue additional bonds for the Home Loan Program. However, there is going to be a
minimum of a 45-day lag to get the process done. In preparing the graphs which Mr. Kloster
presented to the Council, it was assumed that the current rate of the use of the program is going
to remain the same. Another assumption is that WDVA will get a favorable rating from the
Internal Revenue Service and that will allow us to use a $2.4 million subsidy pool that resides
within the current money that we have in the Mortgage Loan Repayment Fund. We also assume
that our current QVMB caps are not going to change. In 2007 calendar year the Department got
authority to do another $10 million but we don’t have the state bonding cap authority to do that.
Capital Finance has secured $4.45 million in a commercial paper transaction and when the state
cap increases they will convert that commercial paper to QVMB and then we will get the
proceeds from it. At the time that they sell the bonds in 2007 (the $10 million plus our $4.45
million) that’s the point at which the interest rate will be set to make the loans.
Mr. Kloster said the $2.4 million is in a subsidy pool at 0% interest. What we are asking
the federal government for is authority to take that $2.4 million and mix it with a general
obligation bond that will be at a higher interest rate when we get it but when we mix that with
0%, we will be able to buy down the interest rate to approximately 6% interest. Mr. Abrahamsen
said we would use taxable bonds, not the tax exempt under QVMB, so what we would be able to
do is have $13 million over and above what we have limited under the QVMB. Mr. Rosinski
said since it won’t be QVMB; we could do refinancing and second residences.
Acting Secretary Kloster then gave a PowerPoint graphic which is attached to these
minutes. Last July we did get authority to get $61 million worth of QVMBs from the old
program that was in place before the law changed in January, 2006. The old volume cap was in
the neighborhood of $89 million. We were able to get $61 million that allowed us to start doing
loans again in July, 2006. That $61 million, given our current state of usage, is estimated to last
us through October, 2007. In the past we have been able to adjust our interest rate. If we wanted
to slow down the amount of money going out of the program in order to make sure we didn’t run
out of money, we could raise our interest rate to make our loans less attractive. Using QVMB,
we cannot do that because we have to set our interest rate in a very narrow window. We have to
set it high enough to meet all our bills, yet there is a cap that the federal government imposes.
Roughly $14.5 million of QVMB funding is in the wings for us if we get the state bonding
authority raised in the budget. We would then get an infusion of cash in the October time frame.
That will give us enough money to run the program through March, 2008. In January, 2008 we
will get another authority of $15 million of QVMB from the federal government. That should
run us through June, 2008. By that time we are hoping that the IRS will allow us to take that
$2.4 million that we have in the subsidy pool, mix general obligation taxable bonds with it, to
give us somewhere around $13 million of additional bonding to make loans. Given that, and
assuming that everything else remains the same, we are looking at August, 2008 that we would
have funding for the program.
3
Our next opportunity to get available funds is February or March, 2009. Based on this
scenario, we are anticipating that from August, 2008 to March, 2009 there will be a shortfall.
We don’t have any money on the horizon to fill that gap. We are working with our
Congressional Delegation to try to get our bonding caps accelerated to give us more authority for
QVMB. Our goal is to get the bonding cap at the federal level up to $100 million every year.
Mr. Jackson asked what happens to the money that people are paying back when a loan is
approved, where does that fit into this explanation? Mr. Kloster said in the financial report
Colleen talked about money being set aside to pay debt service. When we issue these bonds we
are in essence borrowing money to lend so we’ve got debt service to pay. Most of the money
goes to pay those debt service payments. A little extra comes back in for interest and that goes
to pay for roughly 60% of the administrative costs of this Department. Sixty percent of the
money we pay out to the counties in CVSO grants comes from the mortgage loan repayments.
Mr. Mynyk said that WDVA requested $180 million increase in the state volume cap and
the Governor’s budget reduced it to $50 million. What if you come up with nothing? Mr.
Kloster said it should not be as controversial as asking for $50 million worth of GPR. It is not a
deficit to the state but there are legislators who have concerns about bonding for anything.
Mr. Mynyk had three veterans that were caught in the variable percentage rate, balloon
notes coming due and they’re in danger of losing their homes and they are looking for
refinancing. Mr. Kloster said that with the interest rates the way they are, the general obligation
bonds are not attractive and our interest rate would be fairly high.
8. Milwaukee Claims Office

Acting Secretary Kloster said we lost someone in the Milwaukee Claims Office who is
going to be extremely difficult to replace. Mark Rutberg was an extraordinary individual who
had an extreme amount of knowledge, familiarity, and personal connections with the claims
system. Right now our Claims Office has seven claims officer positions. Of those, one position
is currently vacant and a job offer has been made to an individual. There is a position entitled
Agency Liaison for the Claims Office. That position is for a person who could fill in if we don’t
have a Bureau Director or second in command, someone who can focus less on day-to-day doing
claims and a little more on office organization and making sure things are done in a timely
manner. That position has been filled by Mr. Dennis Bohen. There were two County Veterans
Service Officers on the interview panel that helped to select Mr. Bohen. The position occupied
by Mark Rutberg is going through the announcement process. It will be 90 days from the time a
position is announced until a person is hired. There are six support staff in the Claims Office—
program assistants, office assistant, and receptionist. The Bureau Director and one Claims
Officer are the only two positions open at this time.
9. VBATS Electronic Eligibility Status

Mr. Kloster understands that the CVSOs would like to open VBATS and initially look on
the screen and electronically tell whether or not a veteran is eligible for state benefits. Right
now it is not technically feasible to do that. It would be a huge undertaking to manually go back
and take all those paper documents and convert them to electronic documents. Once you get the
veteran up in VBATS with their basic information, you can check veterans eligibility and it will
bring you up to a form that will be checked if the veteran is eligible for programs. What WDVA
can do is, if there are checks on that form, we can somehow highlight the base file number on the
previous screen and you will know then that the veteran is at least eligible for something.
4
Unfortunately, anybody who established eligibility prior to 2002 won’t have any checks on their
form because the only way to do that is to go through every file, every form and manually do it.
Mr. Kloster can pick a date from this point forward and say--if someone is not eligible for any
WDVA benefits, we could turn the base file number red. Part of our budget request is to be able
to be able to image the base files. When we image the base files we will convert paper
documents to pictures but you cannot automatically transfer the data into the system because it’s
just a picture. When the imaging is done, probably two years from now, WDVA will try to do
the manual input into all those forms.
Mr. Jackson is concerned with basic eligibility and when they see a base file number,
CVSOs assume eligibility. Mr. Jackson would like WDVA to pick a date from this point
forward and note eligibility by changing color of the base file number. Mr. Kloster will talk with
eligibility and the computer programming people and let CVSOs know at the next meeting
where we stand on this suggestion.
10. Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC)

Mr. Jackson said ADRC is a statewide initiative by the Health and Human Services
Department of Aging. They are encouraging local agencies to develop networking synergies to
increase efficiencies and to address limited funding sources. It started as a pilot program with
five counties and it was expanded to more experimental counties so that now it is a statewide
initiative for counties that want to buy into it. It’s working well in some places and not well in
others. Mr. Jackson said that currently it is not working in Barron County in that the
Administrative Coordinator talked about co-locating the CVSO with Aging. After they were co-
located, the CVSO had a less favorable location in the building. The CVSO Association has
established a position about the ADRC that asks that the independence of County Veterans
Service Offices not be violated and the integrity of the CVSO be maintained in terms of separate
and distinct issues. The VFW sent a letter to Representative Musser on this. AMVETS also
wrote to the CVSO Association inquiring about a possible lawsuit.
Mr. Jackson asked the Council to go on record asking the Department and the Board to
be supportive of the Association position paper regarding this issue and do what they can to
maintain the separate and distinct characteristics of the County Veterans Service Office.
It was moved by Mr. Stone that the CVSO Advisory Council, through the Board of Veterans
Affairs, go on record in favor of the position paper of the CVSO. The motion was seconded and
carried unanimously on a voice vote.
11. Secretary’s Matters

Mr. Kloster said the discussion has been healthy. He would like to talk more with the
Association leadership on the strategy concerning the ADRC issue.
12. Public Input

Mr. Thiers said he thought there was an attorney general opinion on whether or not
county governments could merge.
Mr. Wendt said the Door County Veterans Council has a reception beginning at 4:30 pm.
13. Council Members’ Matters (Not Subject to Adoption)
5
Mr. Jackson acknowledged the services and contributions of the three members who went
off the Council at the last meeting. They are former Chair Holly Hoppe, Mr. Jim Young and Mr.
Don Lander.
Mr. Grams passed on a compliment he received from the family of a veteran that was
buried at Union Grove. They were impressed with the facility and every one of the staff.
Mr. Mynyk asked if the Aid to Military Families under the Assistance to Needy Veterans
Grant is being looked at and the answer was that it is being researched.
14. Next Meeting Schedule

June 21 at the Veterans Home at King.
15. Adjournment
It was moved, seconded and carried on a voice vote to adjourn the CVSO Advisory
Council meeting, the time was 4:20 p.m.
John Solis
Chair
6
MINUTES
LEGISLATIVE AND PROGRAM REVIEW COMMITTEE
Meeting of April 19, 2007
Committee Present WDVA Present

Marvin Freedman William Kloster, Acting Secretary
Mack Hughes Anthony Hardie, Executive Assistant
Vera Roddy Bill Crowley, Commandant, King
Jim Young Glen Brower, Commandant, Union Grove
Steve Lawrence John Rosinski, Chief Legal Counsel
Duane Miskulin Andy Schuster, Public Affairs Director
Tim Thiers Mike Diaz, Division Administrator
Committee Excused Ken Black, Division Administrator
Lewis Harned Mike Diaz, Division of Veterans Homes
Bill Hustad Colleen Holtan, Budget Office
Bud Mautz Steve Stead, WVH-King
Paul Weprinsky Gary Wistrom, WVH-UG

The meeting of the Legislative and Program Review Committee was called to order at
4:25 p.m.; a quorum was present.

It was certified that proper notice of the meeting occurred.
3. Approval of Minutes.
It was moved by Mr. Miskulin, seconded by Mr. Lawrence and carried on a voice vote to
approve the minutes of the February 21, 2007 meeting.
4. CVSO Resolutions F001-06 Veterans Education Grant Delimiting Date; F003-06 Veterans
Education Grant Income Limit; and F004-06 Aid to Needy Veteran Grant Improvement
Recommendations.
Mr. Freedman thanked the Department for providing the documentation on the fiscal
estimates of the three resolutions. He noted that Acting Secretary Kloster will be briefing the
Board on the impact on the Trust Fund as far as projections in the event that we do not get the
GPR requested. Mr. Freedman suggested that the three resolutions be held over for discussion
until the June meeting. He asked that the briefing slides be distributed to Committee members
after Mr. Kloster’s presentation tomorrow. Hearing no objection, the resolutions will be held
over until the June meeting.
5. Secretary’s Matters.
The Acting Secretary had no comments for this Committee.
1
6. Public Input.
Mr. Hardie said that he and Mr. Freedman are co-chairing a panel commissioned by the
Secretary on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The panel’s mission is to provide
recommendations to Acting WDVA Secretary Kloster and the Board of Veterans Affairs on
expending the $200,000 appropriated in the 2007-09 biennial state budget for the PTSD
initiatives. The panel had its first meeting and they are moving in a positive direction. Mr.
Freedman added that there are some very talented people on the panel.
7. Committee Members’ Matters (Not Subject to Adoption).

Mr. Freedman asked if we have a fiscal estimate yet on AB 222 relating to development
zone tax credits for providing full-time jobs to veterans of the US Armed Foces. Mr. Hardie is
not sure if there is one yet or not. He does know that the fiscal impact would in fact be small
because it is an increase in something that already exists and is limited to specific development
zones. Mr. Freedman asked for a written summary of the bill’s fiscal estimate and that it be
distributed it to the members of the Committee. Mr. Freedman said specific questions on the bill
could then be addressed at the Committee’s June meeting.
Mr. Thiers asked for an agenda item on Assistance to Needy Veterans Program
description. Mr. Kloster said that was requested as an agenda item for the CVSO Advisory
Council. Mr. Freedman suggested that it would be something of great value to all the
Committees and the Board and if the CVSO Advisory Council would be agreeable, it could be
done at the Briefing session that precedes all the Committee meetings. Mr. Kloster said
something will be worked out.
Mr. Thiers said Rep. Musser is talking about providing insurance to veterans for up to
two years with a $50 monthly premium. When it comes out in bill form, take a look at that and
see where this money is going to come from—if it is going to be proposed as GPR money or
coming out of the Trust Fund. Mr. Freedman said that we can assume that Mr. Hardie will be
monitoring any legislation that is introduced and will be briefing us on it.
8. Next Meeting Date.

June 21, 2007 at the Wisconsin Veterans Home-King
9. Adjournment.
It was moved by Ms. Roddy, seconded by Mr. Lawrence and carried on a voice vote to
adjourn the meeting; the time was 4:35 p.m.
Marvin Freedman
Chairman
2
MINUTES
LONG TERM CARE COMMITTEE

Rod Moen William Kloster, Deputy Secretary
Ken Wendt Anthony Hardie, Executive Assistant
Arnold Miller Mike Diaz, Division Administrator
Jerry Rabetski Bill Crowley, Commandant, WVH-King
Jerry Polus Glen Brower, Commandant, WVH-Union Grove
Mary Meyer (via telephone) John Rosinski, Chief Legal Counsel
Alan Walker Andy Schuster, Public Relations Director
Peter Moran (ex-officio) Ken Abrahamsen, Budget Director
Committee Excused Steve Stead, WVH-King
Robert Morzenti Gary Wistrom, WVH-Union Grove
Dave Gough Ken Black, Division of Veterans Benefits
Chris Kornkven Shari McCann, Executive Staff Secretary
Ken Koon
Kevin Kavanaugh

The meeting of the Long Term Care Committee was called to order at 4:40 p.m., a
quorum was present.

It was moved, seconded, and carried unanimously on a voice vote to approve the minutes
of the February 21, 2007 Committee meetings.
Mr. Crowley referred back to the February meeting minutes where he reported about
Public Law 109-461 which directs the US Department of Veterans Affairs to pay for the cost of
70% or more service connected veterans residing in state veterans homes. He reported that
regulations were to have been developed by March 21st to affect that. That has not happened and
the latest he heard from the USDVA is that they have not begun to draft those regulations. It is
important for everyone to know that there is some time lag on that and he does not know when
that will become effective.
4. Dept. of Health & Family Services, Office of Quality Assurance Inspection Reports.
Mr. Moen said, without objection he would lay over until the next meeting at King this
agenda item. The materials have been received by the Committee members and they will have
time between now and June to go over the packet. It was moved by Mr. Rabetski, seconded by
Mr. Moran and carried unanimously on a voice vote to reschedule agenda item 4 for the June
meeting.
1
Acting Secretary Kloster briefed the fact that we have been talking about an operations
study that the Department is going to do regarding the Homes. The Department has already gone
out with the request for proposal on that. Some vendors have responded and in recent weeks a
group of vendors toured the Home at Union Grove and the Home at King. They have submitted
questions to us, we have gone back to them with the answers. The Vendors’ requests for
proposal are due to the Department by April 26. Once those come in, we have a designated
committee of department personnel and people from outside the department to judge those
requests for proposals and go forward and award a contract with a consulting firm to do this
operational study. We are on track and our goal is to get somebody on the ground to start this
process early this summer with a nine to twelve month duration.
Mr. Moen thanked Mr. Kloster for responding to his email regarding the proposal in the
last budget where the Governor requested a $25 million transfer out of King, that was later
removed by the Joint Finance Committee and introduced as separate legislation which passed,
making that a $16 million transfer, and to date, that has not happened. Mr. Kloster said there has
been no money transferred from the Veterans Homes account to the Veterans Trust Fund. The
Board will be advised on any transfer. Mr. Kloster was unsure whether that would require a vote
by the Board but WDVA does not intend to make any transfer without a thorough analysis and
Board concurrence. Mr. Moen hoped that the Board would have some input to that.
Secondly, Mr. Moen said the budget this year has requested another $7 million in Senate
Bill 40. Mr. Kloster said the Governor wants to put in an authorization to transfer $7 million
from the Home to the Veterans Trust Fund in the first year of the biennium. Mr. Moen asked if
the Department has input to the Department of Administration or is this something done to
balance the budget? Did the Department have input on those things before they actually
appeared in the budget? Mr. Kloster said no. Mr. Abrahamsen said the figures are put into the
budget through the Governor. The entity with the key role in developing the Governor’s budget
is the State Budget Office. Mr. Abrahamsen assumes that somewhere in this process someone
from the Budget Office, or the Governor’s staff came up with this idea and decided to include it
in the Governor’s budget recommendation.
Mr. Kloster said the Governor’s original proposal at the end of the last budget cycle was
to transfer $25 million of cash from the Veterans Homes Fund to the General Fund. Joint
Finance removed that provision and asked WDVA to look at the possibility of making a transfer
from the Home into the Veterans Trust Fund, keeping the money in the veteran’s arena. WDVA
was asked to come up with what we thought was a reasonable projection of how much available
cash might exist in the King account two years in advance. WDVA projections showed that
there might be as much as $16 million in the account and that would be the total possible
amount. But when we testified at that bill hearing, we spoke that we were not going to transfer
any money from the King Home to the Veterans Trust Fund if there was going to be any kind of
negative impact on the Home. That is one of the reasons we didn’t transfer any money, we’re
still waiting for this operational study to tell us how much money we’re going to need for the
future to run King, Union Grove and Chippewa Falls.
6. Public Input.
2
Mr. Rabetski thanked Bill Crowley for the Volunteer Recognition Banquet. He was
pleased to be able to attend.
Mr. Polus shared a new initiative in Brown County. The County Executive put $15,000
in the CVSO budget this year to inform aging and disabled veterans about services available to
them. The Aging Disability Resource Center (ADRC) director and Mr. Polus developed a two-
prong program. The first component of that program is to hold information sessions at the
ADRC inviting aging and disabled veterans to these sessions. The first session was April 6th and
there were over 60 people in attendance. These sessions will be held on the first Friday of each
month followed by a free lunch for the veterans and their spouses. The second component is to
hire two aging, disabled veterans to do outreach to the 13 nursing homes in Brown County.

None.
8. Next Meeting Schedule.

June 21 at the Wisconsin Veterans Home King
9. Adjournment.
It was moved by Mr. Rabetski, seconded by Mr. Moran and carried unanimously on a
voice vote to adjourn the meeting; the time was 4:50 p.m.
Rod Moen
Chairman
3
MINUTES
FINANCIAL COMMITTEE

Bill Andersen William Kloster, Acting Secretary
Walter Stenavich Anthony Hardie, Executive Assistant
Jim Endres Bill Crowley, Commandant, WVH-King
Jim Gausmann Glen Brower, Commandant, WVH-Union Grove
Joe Campbell Mike Diaz, Division of Veterans Homes
Al Kochenderfer John Rosinski, Chief Legal Counsel
Committee Excused Colleen Holtan, Budget Office
Connie Allord Andrew Schuster, Communications Director
Mike Demske Steve Stead, WVH-King
Bill Bottoms Gary Wistrom, WVH-Union Grove
John O’Brien Ken Black, Division of Veterans Benefits

The meeting of the Financial Committee was called to order at 4:55 p.m.; a quorum was
present.

Notice of meeting was filed.
It was moved by Mr. Gausmann, seconded by Mr. Stenavich and carried unanimously on
a voice vote to approve the minutes of the February 21, 2007 Financial Committee meeting.
Acting Secretary Kloster would like to come back to the Committee at the next meeting
to discuss proposals for different formats on some of the financial reports based on
recommendations from Board members. Mr. Abrahamsen said different graphs and some
additional information that hasn’t been provided in the past will be offered.
Mr. Kloster advised the Committee that he will brief the Board tomorrow on different
scenarios of what might happen under certain conditions, one of which is if we are to receive
GPR funding as part of the budget. Under the current budget proposed by the Governor, we did
receive some GPR that supports some programs, but the lion’s share for which we had requested
money to cover administrative costs was not submitted by the Governor.
5. Public Input.
None.

1
None.

June 21, 2007 at the Wisconsin Veterans Home-King
8. Adjournment.
It was moved by Mr. Campbell, seconded by Mr. Endres and carried unanimously on a
voice vote to adjourn the meeting; the time was 5:00 p.m.
Bill Andersen
Chairman
2
MINUTES
COUNCIL ON VETERANS PROGRAMS
Members Present WDVA Present

Russ Alsteen, NCUSA William Kloster, Acting Secretary
Paul Bialk, MCL Anthony Hardie, Executive Assistant
Pat Brown, USSVWWII Bill Crowley, Commandant, WVH-King
Rick Cherone, MOPH Glen Brower, Commandant, WVH-UG
Paul Fine, ANU Mike Diaz, Veterans Homes
Jesse Haro, CWV John Rosinski, Chief Legal Counsel
Mark Foreman, VVAW Andrew Schuster, Communications Director
Walter Peterson, Am. ExPOW Ken Abrahamsen, Budget Director
Jerry Rabetski, PLAV Ken Black, Division of Veterans Benefits
Vera Roddy, UWV Colleen Holtan, Budget Office
William Sims, NABV Steve Stead, WVH-King
Clif Sorenson, WACVO Gary Wistrom, WVH-UG
Clarence Stoel, DAV Shari McCann, Executive Staff Secretary
Tim Thiers, AMVETS
Paul Weprinsky, JWV
Members Excused
WWI vacancy
FCDV vacancy
Bill Hustad, WVV
Chris Kanios, VFW
Jon LiDonne, CVSO Association
John Margowski, VVA
Bud Mautz, Am. Legion
Mike Smith, ARC
Jack Stone, PVA
1. Call to Order and Roll Call of Members.

The meeting of the Council on Veterans Programs was called to order by Chairman
Sorenson at 8:00 a.m.

3. Introduction of Guests and Announcements.

Introductions included: Mark Foreman, Vietnam Veterans Against the Wars, a new
member of the Council; Mrs. Gayle Kagen, President of the Congressional Freshman Spouses
Organization; Cletus Rataichek, State Commander of AMVETS; Board Member William
Andersen; Renee Oshinski; Acting Door County Veterans Service Officer, Ken Rock.
1
It was moved by Mr. Fine, seconded by Ms. Roddy and carried unanimously on a voice
vote to accept the minutes of the February 21 meeting.
5. Council Communications.
Chairman Sorenson received a position paper from the President of the County Veterans
Officer Association of Wisconsin, Michael Jackson. The position paper was acted on yesterday
by the CVSO Advisory Council. Secondly, the Veterans Assistance Foundation sent a letter
asking for the Council’s support of their request for a seat on the Council on Veterans Programs.
It was moved by Mr. Alsteen, seconded by Mr. Thiers and carried unanimously on a voice vote
to request that a member of the Veterans Assistance Foundation attend a Council meeting and
talk about their organization. The Chairman will contact the Veterans Assistance Foundation
and ask for a representative to appear briefly before the Council.
Mr. Alsteen provided Council members with a letter that was sent to the Honorable
James Nicholson, Secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs in regard to the Council’s
position to support the spinal cord injury center at the Zablocki VA Medical Center. Mr. Alsteen
also sent a letter to both Senators Feingold and Kohl and Rep. Gwen Moore on the spinal cord
injury center. He has not yet heard back from anyone.
Mr. Campbell said he understood the spinal cord injury center initiative has passed and
Zablocki is now in the process of accepting bids for construction.
6. Museum Foundation Report.

No one from the Foundation was present to give that report.
7. Congressional Freshman Spouses Organization National Veterans Outreach Initiative—Mrs.

Gayle Kagen, President
Mrs. Gayle Kagen’s spouse, Steve Kagen, is a freshman Representative from the 8th
Congressional District. She expressed their thanks to the veterans and veterans organizations.
She noted that President Bush has proposed cutting the veteran health care by $14 billion over
the next five years and increasing fees for all veterans under 65 years of age by up to $1,000 a
year. Rep. Kagen believes that all veterans who have served our country have already paid for
the health care that they are receiving. Your benefits should be our thanks from a grateful
Nation—you should not have to pay for your health care twice. Congressman Steve Kagen is
actively cosponsoring the following:
• A bill to prohibit this military medical fee increase.
• A bill to extend the action to mental health care. Rep. Kagen would like medical health
care offered to all soldiers post deployment, and equal transitional assistance for
members of the National Guard.
• Legislation to eliminate the 20 years of active duty service that is now mandatory for
military retirees to be fully vested with their disability benefits.
• A bill to allow military retirees to receive both full retirement pay and full disability
benefits at the same time. Currently only those with greater than 50% disability are
eligible.
• A bill to expand benefits for visual impairment to treat eyes as equally as other organs.
Mrs. Kagen said that she has been a nurse for close to 30 years. After her husband’s
election, she was voted as the President of the Freshman Congressional Spouses. This is the first
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year the freshman spouses have chosen to do a community project. This freshman class is a
bipartisan class. They don’t have the money that Congress has but as spouses they do have
voices and hopefully community support. She has come to the Council today to ask for ideas
and suggestions on ways to best support the Council. She has met with Anthony Hardie, Andy
Schuster, Jerry Polus, Jeff Johnson and Clif Sorenson and has collected some excellent
suggestions. One suggestion was a family support group for the wives, children and the parents
of the veterans who have returned. She would like any additional ideas. She will be meeting
with the other Congressional spouses during the second week of May. Please contact her
through Ron Lokker at the Congressional Office, or at her home if you have any ideas or
suggestions.
8. Status of Legislation on Council Membership—Clif Sorenson

Assembly Bill 270 and Senate Bill 143 both relate to changing the members of the
Council on Veterans Programs and were introduced on April 13, 2007. The bills add a
representative from the Wisconsin Council of the Military Officers Association of America and
The Retired Enlisted Association and removing representatives of inactive organizations, the
Veterans of World War I of the U.S.A. Inc. and the Federation of Minority Veterans, Inc.
There is a public hearing on May 2nd for AB 270.
9. Action Regarding Proposed Changes to Council Protocol to Determine Organization’s Status

Mr. Sorenson said that action was tabled at the last meeting. It was moved by Mr. Fine,
seconded by Mr. Alsteen, and carried unanimously on a voice to take action regarding proposed
changes to Council Protocol off the table. Mr. Alsteen said the issue was reviewed by Attorney
Rosinski and the proposed Protocol addition is completely in order. It was moved by Mr. Thiers
and seconded by Clarence Stoel to approve the amendment to the Protocol. Roll call vote:
Alsteen, yes; Bialk, yes; Brown, yes; Cherone, yes; Fine, yes; Haro, yes; Stoel, yes; Peterson,
yes; Rabetski, yes; Roddy, yes; Foreman, yes; Sims, yes; Sorenson, yes; Thiers, yes; Weprinsky,
yes—15 members, two-thirds of the membership voted yes for passage of the motion. The
amended Protocol is attached to these minutes.

Acting Secretary Kloster said that recently the Museum along with the Wisconsin State
Historical Society received an award from the Milwaukee Press Club. The first airing of the
Korean Stories Documentary received the second place award from the Press Club for the best
documentary or news story. Also, the Museum golfing fundraising event is coming up in June.
Mr. Kloster said Secretary Scocos is being deployed to the Middle East and he will have
a short stay at Ft. Bliss first. Earlier this week, at the Secretary’s request and to eliminate any
confusion, we closed down his state email account. If you were to send an email to Secretary
Scocos, it will come back as being undeliverable.
Many of you use the federal VA compensation and pension data that is compiled and sent
out by WDVA. WDVA has not received from the USDVA the information used to make the
charts. The information is expected some time in May. (Note: After the meeting USDVA
pushed back the time to June.) The delay is due to fallout from the data loss last year and the
unexpected retirement of a key USDVA analyst.
3
11. Old Business.
Mr. Sorenson said that at the last meeting the Secretary gave them a letter he had received
from Veterans for Peace asking for membership on the Council on Veterans Programs. At the
Council’s request the Chair did contact the organization and a representative is here today to
brief us. Mr. Todd Dennis comes from Madison and wishes to address us briefly and could field
questions from the Council.
Mr. Dennis is a veteran from the U.S. Navy from 1997-2003. Veterans for Peace is a non-
profit, 501-c3 organization which is educational and humanitarian. They are dedicated to the
abolishment of war. Its statement of purpose is as follows: We, having dutifully served our
Nation do hereby affirm our greater responsibility to serve the cause of world peace. To this we
will work with others toward increasing the public awareness of the costs of war, to restrain our
government from intervening overtly and covertly in the internal affairs of other Nations, to end
the nuclear arms race, to seek justice for veterans and victims of war and to abolish war as an
instrument of national policy. To achieve these goals Veterans for Peace pledge to use non-
violent means and to maintain an organization that is both democratic and open with the
understanding that all members are trusted to act in the best interest of the group for the larger
purpose of world peace. We urge all who share this vision to join us. Mr. Dennis represents the
Madison Chapter of Veterans for Peace and locally there are members from the Spanish American
War, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, and
Operation Iraqi Freedom. There are four chapters in Wisconsin—Madison, Milwaukee, Rice
Lake/Eau Claire, and Oshkosh and one is in the process of being recognized nationally. From
PTSD to traumatic brain injuries his generation faces many issues and veterans from Iraq and
Afghanistan need their help.
Mr. Hardie added that Dr. James Allen and artist David Giffey are active members of the
Veterans for Peace organization.
It was moved by Mr. Fine, seconded by Mr. Sims and carried unanimously on a voice vote to
add to the June agenda a discussion regarding Veterans for Peace as a Council member.
Mr. Cherone talked at the last meeting about a Fisher House operation on the grounds of the
VA Medical Center in Milwaukee. Mr. Campbell said that Mr. Marcoux made a presentation
whereby the City of Milwaukee would take over the VA grounds and the under utilized land.
Many now know that the City of Milwaukee has withdrawn its proposal. Fisher Houses serve
veterans and their families who are in need of long term care. The VA in Milwaukee had never
requested a Fisher House until August. George Webb will do a fundraiser at a number of its
operations owned by the gentleman out of West Bend and have the monies donated to a Fischer
House in Milwaukee. This, however, is subject to Secretary Nicholson’s approval and
Milwaukee is not on their list. The monies should be earmarked and requested for Milwaukee.
It was moved by Mr. Cherone, seconded by Mr. Fine and carried on a voice vote to draft a
letter to Secretary Nicholson endorsing rapid movement for a Fisher House placement at the VA
grounds in Milwaukee. The drafted letter will be discussed at the June meeting of the Council.
Mr. Alsteen asked about having an alternate sit in for a representative on the Council who
cannot attend the meeting. Does that person have voting authority and does that person get
reimbursed? Mr. Sorenson said the current Protocol does allow for that under significant
medical or personal reasons and pre-authorization by the chair or department prior to the
meeting. Mr. Rosinski said as long as the necessary conditions are met according to the Protocol
4
the substitute could vote and would be reimbursed by the state. The organization itself would
make the request to the Department for the absent member and replacement member.
12. New Business.

Mr. Alsteen previously spoke with Dr. Ken Lee about addressing the Council on
Veterans Programs. Mr. Alsteen would like to ask him to come to the meeting at King in June.
Council members said that would be a bad time because of the National Wheelchair Games
being held in Milwaukee in June. Mr. Bialk suggested inviting him to the Council’s August
meeting in Milwaukee. Secondly, Mr. Alsteen said the commanding officer of the USS Freedom
being built in Marinette has indicated he would speak to this Council. It was moved by Mr.
Alsteen, seconded by Mr. Cherone and carried on a voice vote that we have a speaker put on the
agenda for the June meeting.
It was moved by Mr. Rabetski, seconded by Mr. Thiers and carried on a voice vote that
the ADRC issue be placed on the agenda.
Mr. Thiers asked for informational purposes only if it would be possible for our
organizations to have their Resolutions placed on the agenda for the Legislative and Program
Review Committee before they present them at Convention so that we could get feedback before
passing them at Convention.
Mr. Jackson said the Long Term Care Committee heard that new legislation passed in
December regarding veterans homes whose veterans are rated 70% service connected or higher
can now be reimbursed by the VA for their care. Previously that was not the case and it was an
injustice to those veterans who went to state homes versus community homes. Yesterday
Commandant Crowley said that the VA was supposed to promulgate rules by March 21, 2007
and it has come to his attention that they have not done that. Mr. Jackson encouraged this group
to go to your individual organizations on the national level to communicate to the VA to approve
those rules. Mr. Jackson will also take the issue back to the CVSO Association of Wisconsin to
communicate with those that can get action started.
A Council member asked if these benefits are also being extended to 70% disabled
veterans with in-home care. Mr. Jackson said if a person is receiving in-home care and their
service-connected conditions are the cause of that, then they can apply for Aid and Attendance
and they get additional monies to pay for the extra care that they need in the home. A doctor has
to complete a statement saying the person requires assistance with five or six daily living
activities and it is a basic amount that they are paid in addition to the compensation that they
receive now. Who do we contact to clarify that? Mr. Jackson said to contact your County
Veterans Service Officer or the Veterans Service Claims Offices in Milwaukee such as the
American Legion, the VFW, and the WDVA.
The National CVSO Association Conference is in Milwaukee in June and donations for
that conference are more than welcome.
13. Activities within the Veterans Community.

Mr. Sorenson said he works on behalf of veterans who are homeless and there is a new
grant in the Milwaukee for a Maida House and this time it is not just for veterans from the street
but also for female veterans with dependents. Ms. Roddy said that Maida House is a very
reputable provider of care in the Milwaukee area for women in general and they do a wonderful
job of AODA rehabilitation.
5
May 19-19-20 the MOPH State Convention is in Reedsburg.
AMVETS State Convention is June 21-24 in Wisconsin Rapids. At the last state
executive committee meeting between the state department and the third district they donated
around $1,000 to Union Grove for building bookcases and cabinets.
Chairman Sorenson recognized the Door County veterans for hosting the Council at a
fine reception last night. A past WDVA Board Chairman Denis Bay was at the reception.
DAV State Convention is at the Radisson in Green Bay on June 8-10
Sunday, May 20 is a Day of Honor in recognition of all the minority veterans who have
participated in WWII. The event starts at 2 p.m. and the program starts at 4 p.m. at Heart Love
Place, 3229 North Martin Luther King Drive, Milwaukee.
United Women Veterans is taking over the oversight of the women’s clothing closet at
Zablocki VA. They are looking for good quality, stylish back to work and interview clothes,
including shoes. There are corporate supporters from Target, Lands End, and Jockey to help fund
for new garments. Secondly, a Women Veterans Conference will be held at Ft. McCoy on
September 28-29. Donations for a reception would be gladly accepted.
The Wheelchair Games at Zablocki will be held June 19-23. They need volunteers.
The Door County Monument will be dedicated on May 28 at 2 p.m. and Bill Kloster will
be the guest speaker.

June 21-22, 2007 at the Wisconsin Veterans Home-King
15. Adjournment.
It was moved by Mr. Stoel, seconded by Mr. Cherone and carried on a voice vote to
adjourn.
Clif Sorenson
Chairman
6
Projected PML Funding
July 2006 - July 2009
Current Status for PML Funding
• We have exhausted the available state bonding
volume cap for PMLs.
• WDVA requested a $180M increase in the state
volume cap in the 2007-09 biennial budget.
• The Governor reduced WDVA’s request to
$50M, which is not sufficient to cover all
potential available funding options.
• Cannot issue any additional bonds for PML until
the 2007-09 biennial budget is enacted.
General Assumptions
• The budget bill will be effective in mid-August 2007.
• It will take approximately 45 days after the effective date
of the biennial budget to issue new bonding for PML.
• Projected PML funding balances are based on current
demand.
• The department will get a favorable ruling from the Feds
to blend $2.4M of subsidy pool funding in the MLRF with
proceeds from a taxable bond.
• No changes in current QVMB volume caps ($5M in
2006, $10M in 2007, $15M in 2008, $20M in 2009 and
$25M in 2010).
• No use of commercial paper to fund PMLs before
February 2009.
Available PML Funding
• Original $61M of QVMB from the 2005

QVMB volume cap that was available
for loans in beginning in July 2006.
• Original $61M of QVMB of 2005 volume cap that

was available for loans beginning in July ‘06.
• Plus: $14.45M of QVMB funding

available in Oct ‘07 ($4.45M of the 2006
QVMB volume cap and the 2007 QVMB
volume cap of $10M).
• Original $61M of QVMB funding from the 2005

volume cap, which was available for loans
beginning in July ‘06.
• $14.45M of QVMB funding available in Oct ‘07
($4.45M from the 2006 QVMB volume cap and
the 2007 QVMB volume cap of $10M).
• Plus: $15M QVMB volume cap for 2008.

($4.45M from the 2006 QVMB volume cap and the
2007 QVMB volume cap of $10M).
• $15M QVMB volume cap for 2008.
• Plus: An est. $13M from blending $2.4M

of subsidy pool funding with taxable
bonding.
($4.45M from the 2006 QVMB volume cap and the
2007 QVMB volume cap of $10M).
• $15M QVMB volume cap for 2008.
• $13M from blending $2.4M of subsidy pool funding
with taxable bonding.
• Plus: $20M QVMB volume cap for 2009.

SUMMARY
• Based on current PML demand and projected available
funding, there would be sufficient funding to keep the
program open until August ’08.
• There could be about a 6 month funding outage before
bonds could be issued under the 2009 QVMB volume cap.
• The projected fund outage could be avoided if proposed
federal legislation to increase the QVMB volume caps was
enacted by May ‘08.
• Other sources of funding, such as commercial paper, will
be needed to fund loans to Guard, Reservist,
Disenfranchised veterans as well as to refinance an
existing loan or finance a second home.
• SWAPS provisions in the biennial budget bill must pass in
order to have the opportunity to use commercial paper to
fund PMLs.
• Must restore WDVA’s original budget request to increase
state volume cap by $180M.
PROTOCOL
COUNCIL ON VETERANS PROGRAMS
(Adopted April 20, 2007)
Membership on the Council on Veterans Programs (“Council”) is

reserved for a single representative from each of those veterans’
organizations listed in Section 15.497, Wisconsin Statutes.
Each such organization shall appoint a Council representative

from its eligible membership each year prior to the October
meeting of the Council or as soon thereafter as is possible.
Said appointments shall be expeditiously forwarded to the
Department of Veterans Affairs once made.
Each October, after representatives have been appointed and

seated, the Council shall elect, from its membership, a Chair,
Vice Chair and Secretary, each of whom shall be elected by a
majority vote of the Council. Election shall be by secret ballot
and officers shall take office immediately after election.
The officers are elected for a term of one year each. The
Council Chair may not serve more than two consecutive full terms.
In the event the Vice Chair must succeed the Chair during the
Chair’s regular term, he/she may serve two consecutive full terms
after completing the unexpired term of the former Chair. A new
Vice-Chair shall be elected as soon as the position of Vice-Chair
is vacated.
The duties of the Chair are to run the scheduled meetings of the
Council, to make reports directly to the Board of Veterans
Affairs or delegate that responsibility to another Council
member; and to perform other duties as directed by Council
mandate.
The duties of the Vice-Chair shall be to run the Council meetings

in the absence of the Chair and to perform other duties as
directed by the Chair or Council mandate.
The duties of the Secretary shall be to keep a record of Council

business with the assistance of the Department of Veterans
Affairs support staff, to receive official correspondence, to
prepare and send correspondence as directed by the Chair or
Council mandate, and to perform other duties as directed by the
Chair or Council mandate.
The Council Chair may represent the Council before legislative,

administrative or other bodies only on matters on which the
Council has taken a position or as directed by the Council.
The Council Chair may appoint specific committees, the size being
five or seven members. The Committee shall report to the Council
its conclusions and be dismissed or extended at that time.
Each Council representative shall have one vote, which must be

cast as affirmative, negative or abstaining.
7
In the event of the absence of a representative he/she shall not
ordinarily have a replacement by another member of his/her
organization unless there is a significant medical or personal
reason which necessitates the absence. In such a case, the
appointing authority of a member organization may designate a
substitute representative by calling or writing the Council Chair
or the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to a meeting.
Organizations may be considered to be inactive if all of the

following conditions are met: 1) an organization does not have a
duly appointed and current representative, or, if it does, the
representative has accumulated three (3) consecutive unexcused
absences; and 2) an organization has not complied with the
biennial reporting requirement under sec. 45.03 (3) (b), Stats.
for the most recent reporting period.
If an organization is determined to be inactive under the above

conditions, the Council may authorize the Chairperson to notify
the organization of its inactive status and to identify the
actions the organization needs to take to remove that
designation. Written notification shall be sent to the
organization's last known point of contact, return receipt
requested. If after thirty (30) days of the postmark on the
envelope of the notification letter there is no response or, if
there is a response, but the organization does not meet the
conditions that would remove that status within ninety (90) days
of the date of the postmark , the Council may authorize the
Chairperson to notify the Legislature's Veterans Committees of
the organization’s inactive status and to request that the
organization be removed from membership on the Council by
amending sec. 15.497, Stats.
A special meeting of the Council may be called by the Chair with

the concurrence of the Vice Chair and Secretary or by two-thirds
of the Council representatives.
This protocol may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the

appointed Council representatives.
8
BOARD MINUTES
Board Members Present WDVA Present

Mack Hughes Bill Kloster, Acting Secretary
Pete Moran Anthony Hardie, Executive Assistant
Marv Freedman Bill Crowley, Commandant-King
Rodney C. Moen Glen Brower, Commandant-Union Grove
Bill Andersen Andrew Schuster, Communications
Ken Wendt John Rosinski, Chief Legal Counsel
Walter Stenavich Mike Diaz, Veterans Homes
Ken Black, Division of Veterans Benefits
Steve Stead, WVH-King
Gary Wistrom, WVH-UG
1. Roll Call and Introductions

The meeting of the Board of Veterans Affairs was called to order at 9:30 a.m. The
Pledge of Allegiance was recited followed by a moment of silence. A quorum was present
after roll call of members.
Chairman Moran recognized and thanked Terry MacDonald, the Door County
Veterans Council Chairman. Mr. Moran recognized and commended the following people
who have made significant contributions to the Board and its Committees: Board Member
Mack Hughes, the outgoing Board Chairman; and various Committee members whose terms
have expired—Jim Endres, Arnold Miller, Jerry Rabetski, Bob Morzenti, Chris Kornkven,
Ken Koon, David Gough and Connie Allord.
2. Certification of Notice of Meeting

It was certified that proper notification of the meeting occurred.
3. Approval of Minutes
It was moved by Mr. Wendt, seconded by Mr. Moen and carried unanimously on a
voice vote to approve the minutes of the February 21, 2007 Board meeting.
It was moved by Mr. Hughes, seconded by Mr. Freedman and carried on a voice vote
to approve the minutes of the March 21, 2007 Board teleconference.
4. Public Hearing on Proposed Administrative Rule Regarding the CVSO Grant Program
Chairman Moran opened the public hearing and asked for testimony. Mr. Jackson
said that the CVSO Association was well briefed by WDVA. Mr. Rosinski sent out a
memorandum to all 72 counties about this change and the CVSO Advisory Council also
endorsed the changes. The Chairman closed the hearing.
1
It was moved by Mr. Freedman, seconded by Mr. Wendt and carried unanimously on
a voice vote to authorize the Department to submit the proposed order to the appropriate
Legislative review committees for review and further if there are no objections by either
committee to finalize the promulgation process.
5. Board Members’ Matters

Appointment of the Citizen members to the three Committees of the Board. In
consultation with Board members, Secretary Scocos, and recommendations from the CVSO
organization and the veteran’s organizations, Mr. Moran announced the following
nominations:
Legislative and Program Review Committee: Don Heiliger to replace Josh Sniegowski;
Mike Furgal to replace Lewis Harned; Scott Berger to replace Bill Hustad and the
reappointment of Steve Lawrence, Vera Roddy, Jim Young, Bud Mautz, Paul Weprinsky,
Tim Thiers and Duane Miskulin.
Long Term Care Committee: Lewis Harned to replace Arnold Miller; Dr. Charles Allen to
replace Jerry Rabetski; Christine Jordan to replace Bob Morzenti; Rick Scollon to replace
Chris Kornkven; and the reappointment of Alan Walker, Mary Meyer, Kevin Kavanaugh and
Jerry Polus.
Financial Committee: Bill Hustad to replace Jim Endres; Al Richards to replace Connie
Allord; and the reappointment of Joe Campbell, Bill Bottoms, Al Kochenderfer, Jim
Gausmann, Mike Demske and John O’Brien.
It was moved by Mr. Freedman, seconded by Mr. Moen and carried on a voice vote
that the Board approve the nominations of appointees to the three standing Board
Committees as outlined above.
Mr. Moran said that on 4 April he was briefed by John Rosinski and Seth Perelman
concerning current and past litigation stemming from Department operations. Mr. Freedman
received the same briefing several days prior. This has given rise to item #10 on the agenda
which will set the stage for full Board discussion of this topic at its June meeting. On 12
April Mr. Moran met and discussed the transfer of the Department leadership in Secretary
Scocos’ absence and discussed his activation and the health and welfare of his family.
During their meeting, the Lt. Governor stopped by to wish John well and Mr. Scocos pitched
to her the need for GPR financing, property tax relief and the need to do more with PTSD.
On 12 April Mr. Freedman and Mr. Moran met with Angela Russell who is Governor
Doyle’s policy advisor for Veterans Affairs. With regard to Board membership they
basically agreed for the desirability of having female, minority and recent veteran
representation on the Board. They then talked about the Board’s goals of securing GPR
funding for the Department’s administrative costs and the expansion of veteran property tax
relief benefits. The meeting concluded with Ms. Russell’s offer to meet with the Board
leadership on a regular basis.
Mr. Moran recently corresponded with Board members regarding the CVSO National
Convention in Milwaukee June 3-8. He asked the Board to participate in as much of that
Convention as their schedules allow. Mr. Freedman and Mr. Moran will attend the banquet
on 7 June.
2
The National Wheelchair Games will be held in Milwaukee on 19-23 June. Secretary
Kloster and Mr. Moran will be at the opening ceremony and again, Mr. Moran asked Board
Members to participate in any way possible.
Mr. Freedman said he had an extended meeting with Mr. Rosinski the Chief Legal
Counsel and Mr. Perelman the Administrator of Administrative Services with respect to the
nature and extent of legal and administrative actions that have involved the Department
during the last five years. It was an extremely productive meeting and has given us a better
picture of the kind of information that would potentially be helpful for the Board to have on a
regular basis. During the course of the meeting a suggestion was made that we develop a
Board position detailing which legal and administrative actions we should be apprised of as a
Board on a regular basis.
Mr. Freedman attended the King Volunteer Recognition Luncheon. He also sat in
with Secretary Scocos, Mike Diaz and Commandant Crowley with one of the residents who
wanted to chat about the way in which nursing services are provided to quadriplegics at
King. It was very helpful all the way around and one of the things that came up was that
when it came to the subject of food, this member drew a contrast between the cook-chill
situation at Zablocki where he has been a patient for extended periods and at King. He
explained the substantial weight loss that took place while he was at Zablocki and that he put
on 37 pounds since returning to King. It was encouraging.
Mr. Freedman said the first meeting of the PTSD Advisory Panel is off to a good
start. Hopefully within the next couple of months we should have recommendations to the
Acting Secretary.
Mr. Freedman, at Secretary Scocos’ invitation, had lunch last week and discussed the
transition issues and issues of concern and importance to him during his absence. Finally,
Mr. Freedman echoed Mr. Moran’s categorization of their meeting with the Governor’s
office, it was extremely productive and we now have an ongoing mechanism for the Board
leadership to continue to meet with the Governor’s office and have that line of
communication open.
Mr. Moen said that the minutes of the teleconference of 21 March reported that there
was some discussion on the level of citations at the Home. There are interestingly enough
differences between the state and federal citations. At the state level an A citation would be
substantial possibility of death or serious harm to the resident. It progresses down to a C
citation being one that does not directly threaten the health, safety or welfare of a resident
and then correction items which can be corrected immediately at the facility. At the federal
level there are A, B, and C citations, which are no actual harm; level #2 which would be no
actual harm but the potential is there for some harm. The citations go from there to D, E, F,
G, H, I and the immediate jeopardy to a resident’s health and safety are J, K and L citations.
Mr. Moen had asked a question during the teleconference about whether the facility had been
assessed a fine by the state and was told that was not the case. There is a state decision in
1981 that directed the state not to fine institutions that would be fining itself and that’s not
true for the federal. There are citations issued for penalties but the penalty is always zero
from the state. Mr. Moen wanted that clarification to be reflected in these minutes.
3
Mr. Wendt attended the Volunteer Recognition Banquet at the Wisconsin Veterans
Home at King. On April 18th he attended northeastern Wisconsin CVSO meeting at the
CBOC in Appleton. On Monday, April 23 Mr. Wendt will be at Union Grove at their
Volunteer and Awards Banquet.
Mr. Stenavich and Pat Brown met with the Director of the Maritime Museum in
Manitowoc, Ms. Bishop. She is arranging for a memorial on May 3, 4 and 5. It is a
memorial for the USS Lagarto. The Largarto is our state boat, it was built in Manitowoc, WI
and was sunk in 1945 and is now a national gravesite.
Mr. Hughes said that on May 1 his term on the Board expires. He thanked the staff
and Secretary Scocos for the cooperation he has gotten over his seven year term. It has been
an enjoyable seven years and a lot of good things have happened. Mr. Hughes thanked his
wife for following him around during his tenure on the Board and for supporting him in the
Army Reserve for many years.
Mr. Andersen appreciated the warm welcome he received after his appointment to the
Board and he looks forward to working with his colleagues on the Board, the Department,
our veterans organizations, and the Legislature to make sure we do our best to meet the needs
of veterans and their families.
6. Board Action from Committee and Council Meetings

Mr. Mynyk said that the CVSO Advisory Council had a special election and the new
chairman is John Solis from Rock County. The Aging and Disability Resource Center as it
applies to the CVSO office was a topic of discussion. The CVSO Association has a position
paper on the ADRC and the CVSO Advisory Council passed a motion to solicit the Board’s
support for the Association’s position as outlined. Mr. Moran asked that the issue be placed
on the Board’s June agenda for further discussion.
Mr. Freedman said the Legislative and Program Review Committee met and took no
action that would require Board consideration today.
Mr. Moen said the Long Term Care Committee met and took no action that would
require Board consideration today. The Committee laid over to its June meeting the DHFS
Office of Quality Assurance Inspection Reports.
Mr. Andersen said the Financial Committee met and took no action that would
require Board consideration today.
Mr. Sorenson said the Council on Veterans Programs had no items to bring to the
Board for its action. The Council has amended its Protocol to guide the Council on how to
subtract non performing members. They were addressed by Mrs. Gayle Kagen, President of
the Congressional Freshman Spouses Organization. The Freshman Spouses’ platform this
year is the National Veterans Outreach Initiative and all organizations were apprised of what
that organization offers.
7. VISN 12 and VISN 23 Reports
4
Cynthia Breyfogle, Deputy Network Director for VISN 23, shared what they are
doing to support western Wisconsin veterans. Her predecessor Rob McDivitt has accepted a
position as the Director of the Fargo VA Medical Center. VISN 23 covers a five-state area
with up to 35 community based outpatient clinics for doms and 7 nursing home units. The
workload has grown in 2007, so far in the first quarter they have seen an increase of about
3%. She provided a handout to the Board members that showed a comparison of their budget
from 2005 forward. They had a 13% increase in their budget and are looking at about $1.6
billion for their operating budget. Out of that $1.6 billion: $30 million is for new workloads,
$64 million for capital improvements; $8 million for strategic quality type improvements and
another $7.7 million specifically for mental health initiatives and improvements. Patient
satisfaction is monitored closely. In the past they were focused on improving the way they
provide care to outpatients, in 2007 they will focus on inpatient care. Ms. Breyfogle also
provided an update of all CBOCs. The Rice Lake and Hayward CBOC will open in June
2007. Mr. Moran asked if they as a Board could be notified through Secretary Kloster when
there are grand openings for the CBOCs in northwest Wisconsin.
Ms. Breyfogle said they are not doing as well as they would like on access to care.
As of the last count there were 979 patients waiting more than 30 days for an appointment.
The goal is zero and they are aggressively looking at meeting that target by the end of June.
Regarding service to returning combat veterans, nationally, over 630,000 veterans have
returned from OIF OEF and terminated their service. Nationwide, of those about 32% have
sought care at the VA. VISN 23 has done very well and has enrolled 15,600 combat veterans
so far and 70% have obtained care. Of those veterans seen nationally, there are five
diagnoses of treatment: 42% muscular/skeletal; 35% mental disorders such as
PTSD/anxiety/depression; 32% are in an ill defined category—headaches/pains/etc; 30%
have digestive type issues and 49% for nervous system/hearing. The percentages reflect that
many veterans have multiple issues.
Everyone on the health care staff at VISN 23 has undergone training specifically
targeted at suicide prevention and traumatic brain injury. PTSD identification is another area
of additional training. They have added 12 new positions for mental health outreach and
treatment. In the last 12 months, VISN 23 has hosted 221 outreach events for veterans.
There are two pilot programs in VISN 23—the first is mental health training for non VA care
providers, the second is reintegration academy. Mr. Smerling asked about the training for
non VA care providers. Ms. Breyfogle said one of the VA psychiatrists provided an hour
and a half training session for non VA care providers. There may be some type of a script
that went with that; Ms. Breyfogle will make an inquiry and if one is available, she will send
it to WDVA for distribution to Michael Jackson.
Ms. Breyfogle provided a fact sheet on combat veterans. This fact sheet is also
available on the VA.gov web site.
Mr. Moen asked about VA health care and veterans getting enrolled in the VA
even though they do not have current medical needs. How is Wisconsin doing in getting that
message out to our combat veterans? Ms. Breyfogle said the outreach efforts they do on site
are most effective and they are trying to do more internet communication with web links and
using local colleges and universities to share the information. Mr. Moen has been to Ft.
5
McCoy many times and has noticed the VFW talking to individuals; he felt that the service
organizations also provide a great service to the veterans.
Mr. Freedman said that after the last meeting, VISN 12 provided Board members
with information about which VA facilities provide mental health services to veterans within
VISN 12. Also per our request we were provided information as far as to what extent
veterans are served for mental health needs and what the wait time is to see a mental health
provider. The summary also included telemedicine utilization as a service option. Could we
receive that same summary with respect to VA facilities, including CBOCs, that serve
potentially Wisconsin residents from the western and northwestern part of the state? Mr.
Freedman also asked to what extent contracted services for mental health is potentially
available by county with respect to veterans from western and northwestern Wisconsin and
the number of veterans who are actually served by contractors for VA in the provision of
mental health services.
Ms. Oshinski, VISN 12, said she listened to a reporter on NPR talking about
Secretary Scocos’ upcoming service in Iraq. She said Mr. Scocos represented the State of
Wisconsin exactly the way you would hope a public servant would represent your state and
he served himself and the State of Wisconsin well.
VISN 12 is not having tremendous workload growth this year. Priority 7 and 8
veterans are increasing in numbers. Those are individuals who are coming to us without
income or service connection priority. That impacts the dollars the Network receives. While
VISN 12 has a healthy budget increase in FY 2007, it is not at the same level as VISN 23.
They are working to increase access and improve services particularly in the areas of mental
health and for the OIF/OEF veterans.
Ms. Oshinski said VISN 12 has the fifth highest number of returning veterans from
the conflict in Iraq of any of the Networks in the country. They are doing things with the
National Guard in Wisconsin and Illinois to try and bring those folks into the system.
Secretary Nicholson talked about bringing in more patient advocates for the people returning
from Iraq and Afghanistan. VISN 12 has recently hired 12 new patient advocates—two at
Madison, two at Milwaukee, two at Hines, one at North Chicago, two at Jesse Brown, one at
Tomah—so they are covering the Network by going to homes, talking to families and
making sure they don’t get lost in the system. Mental health enhancements—at this point
VISN 12 has hired all the folks for whom they have been given funds to hire for this year .
Ms. Oshinski talked about the situation at Walter Reed and the implications that has
had for the VA both at VISN 12 and across the country. Many of our facilities are old and
technology changes dramatically in regards to patient care so you have to put a lot of money
into infrastructure. The VA has 159 hospitals. VISNs were directed to go out and look at
each and every site of care and document issues and say when they were going to be
corrected and monitor when those corrections are taking place. That information was shared
with the IG and the press. Ms. Oshinski is chair of the safety leadership council in VISN 12
and her committee is going to go out and do unannounced site visits. The VA is committed
to have a clean, safe environment for all the people who are treated by the VA and they are
trying to put processes in place to make sure that happens.
6
For the most part the electronic waiting list has been eliminated in VISN 12 with the
exception of GI procedures at Madison and some at Milwaukee, otherwise there is no one
waiting 120 days for an appointment. The new bar is for everyone to be served within 30
days of the desired date of when they want to be seen.
Construction: Potential groundbreaking date for the spinal cord injury unit at
Milwaukee is hoped to be around the same time as the National Wheelchair Games.
Mr. Glen Grippen, Director of the Milwaukee VA is being promoted to the Network
Director of the Denver VISN. He will be moving soon after the Wheelchair Games. The
Director of Iron Mountain, Janice Boss will be the Director of Wilksbury in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Andersen had questions regarding the waiting list. Ms. Oshinski said they
monitor how many people are under 30 days; how many are under 60 days and how many
under 90 days. She has a printout of the appointment waiting times for every clinic at each
site. It looks like overall 95% have wait times within 30 days. Some clinics are better than
than some are worse than that. For example Audiology at Tomah—70% are within 30 days;
Milwaukee surgery is only at 55%.
Mr. Freedman asked if it is possible to provide Board members with a county

breakdown of contractors that are currently being utilized within the VISN that are
potentially serving Wisconsin residents. Ms. Oshinski said she would take that back and see
what they can figure out. Mr. Freedman said there was $7.7 million earmarked for a new
mental health initiatives, is there comparable earmarking that exists within VISN 12? Ms.
Oshinski said yes and it was associated with a number of positions that they got so she could
provide that to Mr. Kloster for dissemination. Mr. Freedman asked if the printout with
respect to wait times could be provided to Mr. Kloster so that it could be distributed to the
Board.
Mr. Jackson asked what are the uses for the medical care cost recovery funds? Ms.
Oshinski said the medical care cost recovery fund is a program where if veterans have third
party insurance and they’re being treated for non-service connected condition that we can bill
the insurance company. Then, that money is returned directly to the site where the patient
was treated. By law is it mandated to go into the medical services fund to enhance care for
veterans. Those dollars are available for medical services at the site. Some of that may go to
pay the salaries of the people who give those services, some of it may pay for
pharmaceuticals, there is no slush fund, it goes back into the appropriation for medical
services. It is 10% of their budget and without those dollars they would have to change
significantly the kind of service they are delivering.
Mr. Cherone had a question about treatment and Ms. Oshinski said she knows that
they have issues with the emergency room at Milwaukee. One waits way too long and we
need to improve that. Ms. Roddy asked about the hiring for suicide prevention specialist.
Ms. Oshinski said that hiring has been completed and there is a suicide prevention person at
each and every site across the Network. Ms. Roddy asked if the Women Veterans Program
Manager been established yet? Ms. Oshinski could not answer that. Ms. Roddy asked for an
update on vocational rehab, an issue that was brought up at the December meeting. Ms.
7
Oshinski said they followed up with the Regional Office on that individual case but she will
go back and look at it more detail after talking off-line with Ms. Roddy.
In answer to a question from Mr. Andersen, Ms. Oshinski said they have three
appropriations: Medical Facilities, which maintains infrastructure and pays for utilities and
staff; Medical Administration, the finance, contracting, administrative people; and then
Medical Services, which is the fund that pays for the direct care providers, pharmaceuticals,
anything that’s related to the direct provision of medical care to the patient. The law reads,
when we collect money from the insurance companies that reimburse us for medical services
delivered to veterans, that money must go into the Medical Services Fund Appropriation.
That money doesn’t all have to be spent in the same year, it can be carried over.
8. Action on Suggested Modifications to the Board Rules of Procedure for Resolutions

Received from Wisconsin Veterans Organizations
Mr. Freedman said this issue originally came up at the Spooner Board meeting. Mr.
Rosinski’s advice was to treat it as a rule change. A revised proposed language was
submitted by Mr. Rosinski in February which reflected some of the points that the Board
members had raised with respect to utilizing Veterans Service Organization Resolutions as a
subject of separate motions that could come before the Board on the same subject.
It was moved by Mr. Freedman and seconded by Mr. Stenavich that the Board adopt
as a Board Rule of Procedure modification the language that appears on page 9 as underlined
and page 16 as underlined and that we vote to modify both of those provisions in the Rules as
set forth in the underlined language.
Mr. Rosinski said a vote of five members is needed to amend the Rules. There are
two changes, first, unless an organization specifically requests formal action by the Board
and has an authorized representative at the Committee and Board meeting, the Committee
and Board will not take formal action on a proposal from an organization. If this is accepted,
organizations should be notified of this new requirement. Secondly, whether the Board can
take an action that is germane to the resolution but somewhat different and this clarifies that
the Board certainly has the right to deal with that subject matter as long as it’s appropriately
noticed.
Mr. Moen, on page 9, the second line, subject to review by the Legislative and
Program Review Committee—there is nothing that says that Committee has to take action
before it comes to the Board. Mr. Rosinski said the Committee can accept, reject or take no
action.
Mr. Moran called for a roll call vote on the motion: Moran, aye; Freedman, yes;
Moen, aye; Stenavich, aye; Wendt, aye; Hughes, aye; Andersen, yes. Motion approved.
9. CVSO Resolutions F001-06 Veterans Education Grant Delimiting Date; F003-06

Veterans Education Grant Income Limit; and F004-06 Aid to Needy Veteran Grant
Improvement Recommendations
Mr. Freedman said the Legislative and Program Review Committee held over action
on these three resolutions until the June meeting. The reason being they wanted to have the
opportunity to have the information that Mr. Kloster will be briefing to the Board with
8
respect to the impact on the Veterans Trust Fund if GPR is not in the budget as requested by
the Department.
It was moved by Mr. Freedman, seconded and carried on a voice vote that action on
these resolutions be held over until the Committee reports in June.
10. Discussion of Agenda Items for June Meeting Relating to Pending Litigation
Mr. Moran said the Veterans Board is a policy setting and oversight Board. They are
not an operational Board, however, recent events at the King Home have given rise to
questions regarding operations and in particular what do we as a Board want to know, how
much do we want to know and when do we want to know it. This will appear on the Board’s
June agenda for full discussion.
Mr. Rosinski said there are certain types of litigation and at certain points in some
types of litigation it would be appropriate for the Board to be apprised of the action and the
status. The legal issue beyond that is what is the role of the Board and the role of the
Department under the Statutes and Administrative Code provisions. Statutory language says
that this Board is a policy Board, it is clearly not statutorily mandated to be involved in the
administration of the agency. If there was any question and it was a significant enough issue
every Secretary Mr. Rosinski has worked with has brought the issue to the Board, which is
the practice in other Board operated agencies. In this area of litigation, Chairman Moran and
Vice Chairman Freedman agreed that it would make sense to bring the issue of the legal
basis of what the Board is expected to do, what they want to do in this area, and also the
types of litigation, generally to bring it to the Board and have formal action by the Board
directing the Department in this specific area. That is entirely appropriate. Mr. Rosinski will
prepare a much more indepth analysis of the legal issues as well provide generally the types
of litigation the Department is engaged in and we can have a discussion of what the Board
might want and at what point they might want it.
Mr. Freedman said Mr. Rosinski’s summary reflects the heart of the briefing. He
highlighted two things. One is an issue of transparency. Historically certain types of legal
actions, whether they be legal or administrative action, have been reported to the Board
Chairman. This particular briefing was given to both the Chair and Vice Chair. Whatever
understanding as Chair and Vice Chair that we come to should not simply be our
understanding, but for the Board as a whole. Secondly, Mr. Freedman would like to clarify
that neither the Chair or Vice Chair question that it is the role of the Board to oversee the
day-to-day administration, however, they receive regular briefings and updates on legislative
matters, on delivery of health care and any number of things. One thing missing is the same
type of briefing when appropriate to the Board on legal matters. He does not see this as
being inconsistent with the statutory responsibilities the Board has, nor does he see it as an
infringement upon the statutory responsibilities the Department has.
Mr. Moen wanted clarification about information to the Board and not individual
members of the Board. He has been requesting a lot of information trying to get up to speed
on things and he hopes that this will not prevent that from occurring. He agrees that in the
past many times information was provided to the Chair but didn’t filter down to the Veterans
Board members. Mr. Moen said that things work well when people are informed.
9
11. Secretary’s Matters
Acting Secretary Kloster reminded everyone that the Department needs to have
agenda items about three weeks ahead of the date of the meeting because of the sequence of
events that take place once the agenda items come in. Depending upon what the agenda item
is, normally agendas have to get to the Board and Committee members at least a week in
advance of the meetings. On behalf of the Department, Mr. Kloster welcomed Board
Member Andersen.
Mr. Kloster gave an overview of some of the things going on at the Department
behind the scenes that take quite a bit of effort. Over the past 12 months the Department has
been working with the rest of state government in developing disaster recovery plans. They
are called continuous operation, continuity of government plans, which amount to how we
will react as an agency should some type of disaster befall our headquarters in Madison. As
a parallel to that we have also been branching off and looking at how we in state government
are going to react should there be a pandemic flu event. The most important concern is our
two homes and how to provide care to veterans in those homes should 40% of our workforce
become homebound with the flu. We also continue to march on a lot of Information
Technology (IT) improvements within the Department. We are working on such things as
improving the software program that does our loan accounting for our primary loans. We are
working on a system internally that will allow us to track the loan applications through the
Department. We work on revising all our service programs through VBATS to County
Veterans Service Officers. We are working on improvements for the SAA as well.
When the Board meets at King in June, part of the meeting will be a tour. Mr.
Kloster encouraged all Board members to take advantage of that. We also extend that same
courtesy to the members of the Long Term Care Committee.
It was brought up today in the VISN report about outreach. The Wisconsin National
Guard has a series of six briefings received by the soldiers and their families before and after
they deploy. These are all briefings done by teams-- the federal VA, WDVA, the National
Guard, the CVSOs, and a whole host of veterans service providers. We are also working
with the Reserves to try to get information on when their soldiers return. We reach out to
individual veterans through Supermarkets of Veterans Benefits, and other advertisements.
There was also mention about reaching out to non VA personnel, non medical
personnel and trying to make people aware of some of the challenges that our service men
and women are facing when they return from Iraq. Of special concern is the decompression
or reintegration back into society and getting from the war zone or battle mind mentality
back into the normal life cycle activities. Jeff Johnson, the Mission: Welcome Home
Coordinator put together a briefing for police personnel since they may be the first to
encounter such problems as traffic violations, and domestic abuse brought about by PTSD.
He explains what PTSD is and how law enforcement personnel might better understand and
react. We are looking to partner with the Department of Justice to help expand that kind of
an effort.
Acting Secretary Kloster handed out copies of the briefing on the Veterans Trust
Fund. There are a set of assumptions that goes into preparing the briefing charts. In some
cases we are dealing with actual end of year numbers but the majority are estimates. Mr.
10
Kloster advised of various scenarios on how things might turn out given certain conditions
and he showed long term and short term options.
Basic assumptions: (1) That the Veterans Trust Fund cash that we have invested in
the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) will earn a 5.5%, 30 year average earnings
rate. (Two years ago that rate was about 1% and today it’s 5.25%) (2) If our cost of money
is the same as SWIB rate then our personal loan rates will remain the same. (3) An
inflationary increase of 3% for all administrative and goods and services costs. This briefing
does not include any options where we are going to increase programs unless it was
something that was included in the Governor’s budget. Therefore, if Senate Bill 40 was
passed today, with all the provisions as they are in that bill with no amendments and that we
spend every dime of our budget authority to include $10 million of PLP each year, the VTF
will experience a negative cash flow in FY09. There is, however, potential savings in the
VetEd Program and the Veterans Assistance Program, we can reduce our PLPs, we can make
temporary transfers of cash from the Veterans Homes for the purpose of making PLPs, and
we can reimburse the Veterans Trust Fund Program for services that are provided to the
Homes. Those kinds of actions, that short-term strategy will get us out to 2013. On the other
hand, with the GPR included along with the above measures, we’re looking at a more long-
term strategy that could possibly get us out to 2024.
Mr. Kloster said that the Department has tried to provide a comprehensive look with
a consistent set of assumptions through a whole set of series rather than taking individual
snapshots and “what-if” kinds of things. The reason we can do this with the Trust Fund is
because of the efforts of John Trimbell, Ken Abrahamsen and Colleen Holtan who have
worked on this rather elaborate cash flow model over the past few years.
Mr. Moen asked if the GPR that the Department requested is part of the Governor’s
budget (Senate Bill 40) or not? Mr. Kloster said that WDVA requested GPR for various
purposes, basically small amounts for some programs and then $6 million primarily for
administrative expenses of the Department. The small amounts for some of the programs
were funded with GPR, but that administrative cost was not included in the Governor’s
budget.
Mr. Freedman asked for an agenda item in June to further discuss this particular
presentation and its implications after having a chance to not only consider the materials
provided but also with some of the comments Mr. Kloster has made to most effectively
discuss the subject matter.
Mr. Andersen asked if it was $6 million that was requested from GPR. Mr.
Abrahamsen said it was about $6.5 million. Mr. Andersen added that the Department should
present the Board with a decision briefing, and come up with recommended courses of action
that we could take based upon different types of scenarios happening. Mr. Kloster’s concern
is that our budget could come before Joint Finance prior to the next Board meeting. If the
Board is looking for WDVA to present options for Board review as far as impacting on the
budget, doing so at the June meeting would be too late. As we move forward in the future,
do we want to develop a long-term financial strategy or a short-term financial strategy. Or
should we work with the legislature to allow us to stretch that Trust Fund out. Mr. Andersen
asked what the Board should recommend as the strategy for the Veterans Trust Fund. Mr.
11
Abrahamsen said that between now and when the budget is out of Joint Finance, WDVA
could update some of its projections on various programs and that might change some
numbers. Once the budget comes out of Joint Finance you will know what is and is not on
the table, what the re-estimates are, and what courses of action could be taken.
Mr. Andersen asked that in June the Board get some type of an update, plus a
recommended course of action given the status is of the budget at that time.
Mr. Moen, recognizing that Joint Finance finishes its budget about mid June, said it is
absolutely crucial that we have input as far as addressing GPR and the solvency of the Trust
Fund. The Board has already recommended GPR but possibly the Chair and the Vice Chair
or any other Board member could meet with Joint Finance members early next month about
the importance of GPR to the Veterans Trust Fund.
Mr. Kloster addressed the veterans community at the meeting and asked that they go
back to their organizations and send emails, letter, phone calls to your legislators and tell
them that your organization supports the Department’s original budget request for general
purpose dollars to support a portion of its administrative costs.
Mr. Jackson asked about the interest that doesn’t go to the Trust Fund but goes to the
general fund, how close or how far away is that to the amount of GPR you are requesting in
your budget? Mr. Abrahamsen put it in perspective by saying there is about a $20 million
cash balance with the Home, if that $20 million was earning interest for either the Homes or
the Trust Fund, that would be $1,060,000 a year that would be going either to the Homes or
to the Trust Fund, depending upon where that money is. We’ve asked for $6.5 million in
GPR and we’re losing about $1,060,000 in interest. It is not an insignificant amount of
money.
12. Public Input.

Mr. Walker asked if it would be possible to have the Board meeting the week before
its currently scheduled June 22nd date because of the Wheelchair games. Mr. Rosinski said
the Board can amend its calendar as a procedural matter and take it up at this time. The
alternative would be to schedule a special teleconference of the Board to discuss resetting the
June meeting date.
Mr. Campbell briefed on the VA grounds enhanced use lease issue. On 28 March
there were 26 individuals at a meeting—9 from the VA, 6 Congressional staff, 9 veterans, 1
city employee, and 1 reporting secretary. One of the issues that they are taking back to the
veterans organizations is a request that the Wood National Cemetery be reopened.
In answer to a question from Mr. Cherone, Mr. Rosinski said there is a Qualified
Veterans Mortgage Bond restriction in federal law requiring that the application for this loan
be within 25 years of a veteran’s discharge. The proceeds that WDVA uses are sold as
qualified veterans mortgage bonds and we have to enforce that restriction. If a veteran was
discharged in 1945, he is not eligible for a state home loan if we are using qualified veterans
mortgage bond proceeds which is the only money we have right now for loans. If we can get
other monies, it could change.
12
Mr. Jackson talked about the issue of the minutes of the Committees and the Board
and whether non members could get draft copies of those minutes. As a member of the
public if he testifies at one of these public meetings and he is not a member of the committee,
how can he edit or question anything that the minutes may have reflected he said after those
minutes are approved two months later. At a March telephonic meeting of the Board it was
voted that non committee members would not get draft copies of minutes. This is the first
time he is aware that this practice has come up and he repeated what Mr. Moen said earlier,
that “things work well when we are informed.” Mr. Jackson asked why this happened, is
there something that happened that made it necessary to limit the information going out?
Mr. Rosinski said public notice is posted for any of the committee and board
meetings and there is a clear agenda announced. If anyone had wanted to voice an objection,
they could have attended the telephonic meeting of the Board.
Mr. Smerling said that GPR for administrative costs has long been an issue that he
supports. Given the fact that it is critical and if you want the veterans groups to have
maximum impact in going to legislators and the Joint Finance members, he thought that there
should be a Board meeting in May in Madison.
13. Other Matters (Not Subject to Adoption).

Mr. Moen asked Mr. Crowley to talk about the staffing improvements at King.
Commandant Crowley said he compiled historical data for the Board and presented it
to them at their last meeting. In January of 2003, we had a total of 331 nursing employees on
the payroll at King in the three different categories of nursing—CNAs, certified nursing
assistants, LPNs, licensed practical nurses and RNs, nurse clinicians. There has been
significant improvement in the vacancy rate and also the total number of nursing personnel
employed at King. In 2003 there were 71 vacancies. As we meet here this week, 71
vacancies are down to 22 total. There are no vacancies in the nurse clinician category and
the total number of nursing personnel on the payroll has increased from 331 to 431. The first
significant effort was to address how we could make life better for the employees at King;
how could we provide some kind of career ladder. The first step was the LPN Stipend
Program which turned out to be a success. The next step was the RN Stipend Program and
that also is turning out to be a success. In answer to a question regarding a contractual
obligation for the nursing student if they participate in the Stipend Program, Mr. Crowley
said there is on the RN Stipend Program depending on how many semesters they put into the
Stipend Program.
Mr. Stenavich said that on April 3rd there was a legislative meeting at Union Grove
that he attended. WDVA testified to some of the practices that were questioned and they did
an excellent job. Veterans Home residents also testified. Mr. Moran noted that Mr.
Stenavich is going to represent the Board on Monday at the Union Grove Volunteer
Recognition Banquet.
14. Next Meeting Date and Location

The next meeting date as scheduled is June 21-22 at the Veterans Home at King. Mr.
Moran said the Board will hold a telephonic meeting to possibly reset the June meeting date.
13
15. Adjournment
It was moved by Mr. Freedman, seconded and carried on a voice vote to adjourn the
meeting.
Pete Moran
Chairman
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EXHIBIT 1

WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

1. Certification of Notice of Meeting and Roll Call

Some bills of interest: SB 19 has to do with creditable military service. SB 49

3. Programs Report—Ken Black

Military Funeral Honors: The number of honors provided to families continues to

Veterans Assistance Program: Both parties have come to an agreement on the

4. Pre-Application Requirement Process Action Team Report

5. Veterans Homes Report

The Home Exchange operation had no significant changes to report. In the

An offer of employment was extended to Chris Hotvedt to return to the Veterans

Construction projects: There is no construction to report regarding Boland Hall,

6. Financial Report—Colleen Holtan

Mr. Abrahamsen clarified that any bonding we do needs to be approved by the

Members Present WDVA Present

1. Call to Order and Roll Call.

2. Certification of Notice of Meeting.

3. Special Election of Officers

4. Approval of Minutes of February 21, 2007

5. Announcements and Introductions

6. WDVA Form 2045 Routing

7. PML Bonding Status

8. Milwaukee Claims Office

9. VBATS Electronic Eligibility Status

10. Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC)

11. Secretary’s Matters

12. Public Input

13. Council Members’ Matters (Not Subject to Adoption)

14. Next Meeting Schedule

Committee Present WDVA Present

1. Call to Order and Roll Call.

2. Certification of Notice of Meeting.

7. Committee Members’ Matters (Not Subject to Adoption).

8. Next Meeting Date.

Committee Present WDVA Present

1. Call to Order and Roll Call.

2. Certification of Notice of Meeting.

7. Committee Members’ Matters (Not Subject to Adoption).

8. Next Meeting Schedule.

Committee Present WDVA Present

1. Call to Order and Roll Call.

2. Certification of Notice of Meeting.

6. Committee Members’ Matters (Not Subject to Adoption).

7. Next Meeting Date.

Members Present WDVA Present

1. Call to Order and Roll Call of Members.

2. Certification of Notice of Meeting.

3. Introduction of Guests and Announcements.

6. Museum Foundation Report.

7. Congressional Freshman Spouses Organization National Veterans Outreach Initiative—Mrs.

8. Status of Legislation on Council Membership—Clif Sorenson

9. Action Regarding Proposed Changes to Council Protocol to Determine Organization’s Status

10. Secretary’s Matters.

12. New Business.

13. Activities within the Veterans Community.

DAV State Convention is at the Radisson in Green Bay on June 8-10

14. Next Meeting Date.

• Original $61M of QVMB from the 2005

• Original $61M of QVMB of 2005 volume cap that

• Plus: $14.45M of QVMB funding

• Original $61M of QVMB funding from the 2005

• Plus: $15M QVMB volume cap for 2008.

• Plus: An est. $13M from blending $2.4M

• Plus: $20M QVMB volume cap for 2009.