Three Veterans Laws Take Effect Saturday, All With Bipartisan Backing

(KNSI) – A set of new state laws taking effect Saturday will grant high school diplomas to Korean and Vietnam War veterans who left school to serve, expand who can be buried in Minnesota’s state veterans cemeteries, and deliver the first increase in state duty to National Guard Members in nearly 30 years.

St. Cloud DFL Senator Aric Putnam, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Veterans, highlighted the new laws this week. Putnam’s subcommittee is where veterans bills are heard before being folded into a larger package, and he carried the omnibus bill that contained two of the three provisions. Every piece cleared the Legislature without a single no vote, and Republicans authored or co-authored all three.

The diploma law requires school districts and charter schools to issue a diploma upon request from veterans who dropped out during the wars, with family members able to make the request on behalf of a veteran who has died. Veterans and families seeking one should contact the school district where the veteran attended school.

The provision was sponsored by Republican Representative Patricia Mueller of Austin and DFL Senator Steve Cwodzinski of Eden Prairie, and originated with Republican Senator Jordan Rasmusson of Fergus Falls, who said the idea came from residents at the Fergus Falls Veterans Home. It passed as part of a broader education bill, separate from the veterans package.

Republican Representative Bjorn Olson of Fairmont authored the Guard pay increase. The state rate for Guard members called into active service had been frozen at $130 per day since 1997. The new law pays ranks E-1 through E-4 at the federal E-5 rate, meaning a private first class would earn about $186 for a day of state duty. Because the federal tables update annually, the state rate will now rise on its own.

Olson also carried the burial change in the House. It allows honorably discharged National Guard and reserve members, along with their spouses and dependent children, to be interred in a state veterans cemetery beginning January 1st, 2027. Both that provision and the pay increase were rolled into the veterans omnibus bill, authored by Putnam in the Senate and Republican Representative Bidal Duran of Bemidji in the House. Governor Tim Walz signed it May 14th.

Minnesota operates four state veterans cemeteries, in Little Falls, Duluth, Preston, and Redwood Falls. Veterans Affairs officials expect about half the additional interments at the Little Falls cemetery because of its proximity to Camp Ripley.

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