Senate advances bill for Bowling Green vets’ nursing home
FRANKFORT—The Kentucky Senate has approved a measure that marks a step toward building a nursing home for veterans in Bowling Green.
Senate Bill 13, which passed 37-0 today, authorizes $10 million in state bond funds to construct the Bowling Green Veterans’ Center Nursing Home. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will also provide $20 million in federal funding for the project, said Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, the bill’s sponsor.
Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, spoke in favor of the bill, but also noted that eastern Kentucky has approximately 800 veterans for each available nursing home bed, about twice the number in western Kentucky. The approved bill includes an amendment expressing Smith’s hope that future funding for such projects will be directed toward a veterans’ nursing home in Magoffin County.
The measure now moves to the House of Representatives, which has already approved similar legislation this year.
