Veterans' Affairs Seeks Tens of Millions More
The Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs is asking lawmakers for extra funding to repair aging facilities and meet nursing home care requirements.
Updated on Nov. 11, 2026 in Military
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The Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs has requested tens of millions of dollars in additional state funding for the coming year. The request is part of budget submissions Florida agencies prepared for lawmakers to consider in the 2027 Session.
Why it matters
The agency runs eight nursing homes and one assisted living facility with roughly 1,100 beds, and says past budgets, shaped by pandemic-era staffing needs, left maintenance and infrastructure underfunded. The request signals the cost of catching up on those repairs and maintaining required levels of care.
The request totals tens of millions of dollars, including $16.6 million for emergency repairs and $6.6 million for nursing home care, against a current agency budget of nearly $241 million. Lawmakers have not yet acted on the request, and the final appropriation remains unknown.
The players
Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs
The state agency that operates eight veterans nursing homes and one assisted living facility in Florida, funded by a mix of state and federal dollars.
James "Hammer" Hartsell
The executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs, who leads the agency that submitted the funding request.
Byron Donalds
Florida's governor-elect, who will rely on the budget requests when he submits his own budget recommendations next year.
The details
The agency is funded through a mix of state and federal money and is seeking additional staffing funds, including for veterans services and caregivers in nursing homes. The Department says the composition of residents now requires higher clinical acuity and behavioral care, and that its resources went toward pandemic-era salaries, leaving capital improvements with less attention from 2020 to 2024.
Timeline
2020 to 2024: Capital improvements received less attention as pandemic staffing needs took priority.
October 2026: Florida agencies were asked to submit budget requests.
2027 Session: Lawmakers will consider the budget requests.
Budget Cycle
The request is one of the agency submissions that feed into Florida's annual budget process, which will shape the governor-elect's recommendations for next year. It follows years in which pandemic-era staffing needs drew money away from building and facility upkeep.
Residents of the veterans' nursing homes and assisted living facility depend on the repairs and staffing this funding would cover. If approved, the agency says it would have enough budget authority to operate all facilities and meet its obligations on time.
The takeaway
Budget requests like this one show how deferred maintenance and pandemic-era spending priorities can carry forward into later budget years. Florida residents who rely on veterans' care will see the outcome in the 2027 Session.
What happens next
Lawmakers will take up the budget requests during the 2027 Session, and Gov.-elect Byron Donalds will submit his budget recommendations next year.
Further reading
For more on veterans' care and defense issues, see the Military section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..
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