Governor announces backing for State Veteran Home in Yuma

(Phoenix, AZ) – In her Executive Budget, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s proposal for the budget year beginning July 1, 2015 includes $9.2 million for a new veterans home in Yuma. The 60 to 90 bed facility would be the third in the state. The other two are in Phoenix and Tucson. Brewer budget director John Arnold says the federal government will pay for two-thirds of the cost of the home. The facility won’t require state money to operate once it is built. The state Veterans’ Affairs Department says it looked at putting a home in Yuma, Flagstaff and the Kingman area and decided Yuma needed the facility the most. If the Legislature approves the money by July and a federal matching grant is received by late 2015, the new facility could open by October 2017.