 With the clock winding down on the 2018 legislative session, a bill still remains in the mix waiting for potential approval to build veterans homes in Bemidji, Manavideo and Preston. The current House bill proposes to use excess funds from the Viking stadium account towards construction of the three homes. The state Senate already has them included in their bonding bill, but Governor Dayton recently spoke out against using stadium money to build the homes. After six years of working on the project, Beltrami County Veterans Services officials are optimistic that the legislature will work out a deal with the governor. This is the closest we've come, so I'm real hopeful that it will continue and I want to see the veterans homes be funded so that we can at least get it on the federal plans for veterans homes because once the state puts some money up front, then the federal government has to decide if they really want to build veterans homes in the state of Minnesota. This past week, two other veterans related bills moved through the house. One prohibits agreements that assign military pay or benefits to an individual who did not earn them. The other bill was signed into law on Monday, which encourages jurisdictions to designate themselves as Purple Heart cities and counties and provide designated parking spots for Purple Heart recipients. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.