SIGN OF THE TIMES: CALIFORNIA BUDGET MORASS THREATENS NEW VETS' HOME -- The continuing state budget dilemma is threatening to derail the long-awaited construction of a state-owned and -operated veterans home in Redding. -- VA Watchdog dot Org

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SIGN OF THE TIMES: CALIFORNIA BUDGET MORASS THREATENS

NEW VETS' HOME -- The continuing state budget dilemma is

threatening to derail the long-awaited construction of a

state-owned and -operated veterans home in Redding.

All "Sign of the Times" articles are here...
http://www.vawatchdog.o
rg/signofthetimes.htm

Story here... http://www.redding.com/
news/2009/feb/18/budget-morass-thr
eatens-to-delay-redding-vets/

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Budget morass threatens to delay Redding vets' home

By Jim Schultz

SACRAMENTO - The continuing state budget dilemma is threatening to derail the long-awaited construction of a proposed $58.8 million state-owned and -operated veterans home in Redding.

Unless a budget is adopted, and adopted soon, the state Department of Veterans Affairs might miss a summer deadline to obtain about $38 million in federal funding for the 150-bed VA home project, said J.P. Tremblay, deputy secretary of communications for the CDVA.

That would mean at least a year delay, he said.

"There are a lot of variables out there," Tremblay said Tuesday as state legislators continued to grapple with the long-delayed budget.

Tremblay said it's hoped that design and construction bids would be sought next month for the VA home project with the contract awarded in June or July and construction beginning in the fall.

But if that bidding process is put on hold because of haggling and a lack of a state budget, the state won't be able to meet an August deadline to obtain federal funding for it.

"If there's no budget and we don't get this settled, we might be forced to put a hold on planning," Tremblay said.

The effort to build the state-owned veterans home began in earnest in 2000, and it's been estimated that it will take about two years to build the approximately 106,000-square-foot home, which is planned for a site on Knighton Road in southern Redding.

John Cleckner, a highly decorated U.S. Army veteran and staunch veterans advocate, said Tuesday that he receives regular reports and updates about the budget from his Sacramento connections.

"I'm being told that the VA home is still OK," he said of the planned Redding site. But he said he's also been told that existing VA facilities are endangered.

Cleckner, 71, said he can't but worry about a possible delay in the construction of a Redding VA home and cutbacks at other veterans facilities.

"I've never felt so helpless in my life," he said. "I believe they (VA homes) are in danger, but I can't fathom that the people in Sacramento would be that low-life to our American heroes. How can that happen?"

Jim Schultz can be reached at 225-8223

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posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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