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WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC) hearing, U.S. Senator Angus King pressed Dr. Peter Kaboli, the Executive Director of the Office of Rural Health in the Veterans Health Administration, and Wade Vlosich, the Director of the VA Oklahoma City Heath Care System, about the recent Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) FY2025 budget proposal that would cut 10,0000 full-time employees (FTEs), despite data showing the VA needs to increase staffing to keep up with rising demand, particularly in rural areas. In an exchange with Ryan Heiman, the Deputy Executive Director of the Veterans Health Administration Member Services, Senator King also highlighted how critical reliable transportation is for rural Maine veterans trying to access health care.

Senator King began his questioning by asking Dr. Kaboli and Director Vlosich about the proposed VA budget that would cut 10,000 FTEs.

“Now, I am confused about personnel. We've seen a report that over the next five years you're going to have to hire 21,000 new people to keep up with expected growth. One of the facilities, coincidentally, anticipating the most growth is Togus, the veteran’s hospital in Augusta, Maine. They need to hire nearly 1,800 new staff. But then, Secretary McDonough is talking about zero growth, and then your budget calls for cutting 10,000 FTEs. I'm confused, are we going hire the people we need or not,” questioned Senator King.

“Thank you, Senator King, I will take the first shot at it and then ask my colleague here to help me out. We’ve had a lot of discussions over the last couple days specifically about this. The word "strategic" came up a lot. You know, how we are doing strategic hiring and making sure we are using the FTE and the budget we have in the right places,” responded Dr. Kaboli. “And so, over the next, I'm guessing, weeks and months, we will be looking at this very carefully to decide where we need to put the resources and where we need to put the people. Because you're right, it doesn't really compute when you say you need more people but then we are keeping FTE even. I will let Mr. Vlosich answer, too.”

“At the local level, what we are working with our VISNs and with national office on — for those areas that are growing, they are allowing us to move around our FTE. So, we are recruiting FTE and we are still doing that,” replied Director Vlosich.

“Well, if you are rationalizing the organization, I have no problem with that, as long as we don't end up with less service,” said Senator King.

Later in the hearing Senator King stressed the importance of ensuring rural veterans have access to transportation — citing a Caribou example of effective cost-savings.

“Mr. Heiman, in rural states, like Maine, access, transportation is a huge issue. A little homely example, the town of Caribou, which is way up in the northern Maine, you had a contract deal to bring one veteran down for dialysis. They put somebody on the staff to do that kind of driving and it saved $7,000 in a month. Saved the Veterans’ Administration. So, I hope you will think about where and when additional staff to provide this kind of transportation can really make a difference,” said Senator King.

“Yeah, I appreciate that, Senator King. We do have the program you're referencing at 128 VA Medical centers. There are over 1,000 vehicles in the fleet that are providing similar-type services. I would also reference that this was included in the President's budget submission for FY24 in relation to the Highly Rural Transportation Grant Program — in relation to the highly rural transportation grant program,” responded Heiman. “This program is something that is critical to highly rural areas. Our proposed change is to increase and expand — it’s currently available to 25 states for the county level — to expand it to 50 states that would have access to this. The other expansion is that the eligibility criteria would include tribal and county VSOs, which is also extremely important.”

“We will be talking with them in the next panel. Transportation is really important. We are in a large state duel here — I see two of my colleagues — to give you an idea of how tall Maine is, Caribou, which I mentioned, to Portland, Maine, our principal city — Portland, Maine is halfway between Caribou and New York City. It’s a long distance to get to the help that’s there,” finished Senator King.

Representing one of the states with the highest rates of veterans per capita, Senator King is a staunch advocate for America’s servicemembers and veterans. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, he has previously pressed Pentagon officials on the need to prioritize the transition from active duty to veteran status. In a February Veteran’s Affairs Committee hearing, he urged the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) to accelerate their approval process for transportation reimbursements for veterans who receive care at vet centers.

Senator King has worked to ensure American veterans receive their earned benefits and that the VA is properly implementing various programs such as the PACT Act, the State Veterans Homes Domiciliary Care Flexibility Act, the John Scott Hannon Act and the introduction of the bipartisan TAP Promotion Act. Earlier this year, he introduced bipartisan legislation to improve health care transportations for rural veterans.

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