Herbert Meggett criticizes budget priorities for veterans
Meggett says being allowed to speak is not being heard, compares asylum seeker spending to the DVS budget, asks where the urgency is for veterans, and says DVS staff are not the target but elected officials must prioritize veterans.
Thank you.
On behalf of Veteran Action Now, I'd like to thank this committee for the opportunity to speak for some of New York City's most vulnerable and often forgotten residents, our veterans.
But let me be clear, being allowed to speak is not the same as being heard.
And being thanked for our service is not the same as being served.
According to the New York City Comptroller, New York City recorded approximately 1.47 billion in asylum seekers.
Spending in fiscal year 2023, $3.75 billion in 2024, and $3.2 billion in 2025.
These expenditures supported the city's emergency response, including shelter and services.
By comparison, the city's preliminary fiscal year 2026 budget proposed $5.9 million for the Department of Veteran and Services.
Approximately $494,000 less than fiscal year 2025 adopted budget.
To be precise, that was a preliminary proposal, not the final fiscal, not the final adopted figure.
There are differences.
There are different spending categories for the Department of Veterans Service budget.
Does not represent every dollar the city spends on veterans, but that distinction does not erase the question for us.
Where's the same urgency when a veteran needs a place to live?
This is not an argument against helping asylum seekers.
It's not an argument against asking veterans.
This is an argument to asking veterans not to accept neglect.
We should not have to compete with other vulnerable population for basic dignity and safe, affordable housing.
When veteran homelessness is not simply a housing problem, it's a statement about our priorities, budgets, reveal what government is prepared to fund, policies reveal what government is prepared to protect.
And when veterans remain homeless or cannot afford to stay in the city that they call home, speeches about gratitude are not enough.
To the mayor and the members of this committee, if you believe veterans are a priority, show us.
Show us the funding, the housing commitments, the enforceable protections.
And the measurable results do not point to a proclamation when we are asking for a place to live.
I also would like to make an important distinction.
Department of Veterans Services is not the target of my criticism.
Its staff
must work within the resources and policy framework that this administration and the city council provide.
On several occasions, I have contacted the department on behalf of veterans in need.
Its staff responded promptly and helped resolve those issues.
For that, I offer them a sincere thank you.
But I intend to keep the needle on the record.
Put responsibility where it belongs.
With the elected officials who set the priority, write the budget, and decide what gets done.
In my experience, this city, this state,
And this administration has not demonstrated the commitment veterans deserve.
About a year ago, I personally asked the mayor whether he was anti-veteran.
said to me no and asked why would I ask that question.
I told him I had not heard him mention veterans during his campaign for mayor.
That absence mattered to me.
So did his decision to endorse someone for Congress, whom I believe had an attack and belittled our community when veterans are disparaged.
We deserve leadership willing to stand with us, not political endorsements that leave us questioning where do we stand.
We serve to defend the Constitution of the United States.
We should not return home only to feel invisible by government we serve.
We are not asking for special treatment.
We are demanding that the city promises mean something.
We are not war criminals, and a cardboard box is not a medal.
A shelter bed is not a housing policy, and warehousing veterans is not the same as bringing them home.
We are your neighbors, workers, parents, caregivers, community leaders.
We deserve safe, stable housing that's genuinely affordable, not merely labeled affordable while it's beyond our reach.
So do not simply thank us for our service.
Show us in your budget and your policies that our lives matter after this service ends.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr.
Magid.
Yes, sir.
Just point the microphone towards you and keep it close.