A joint legislative subcommittee voted Feb. 17 to close the Montana Veterans Home, in Columbia Falls, and have nursing home services for veterans provided privately.

The Joint Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee vote in Helena followed party lines, with Republicans in favor of the amendment to House Bill 2, the general appropriations bill, and Democrats opposed.

About $2 million a year was removed from the state budget as a result of the amendment. Sen. David Lewis, R-Helena, who proposed the amendment, explained that cost savings to the state would come from cuts in salaries and benefits.

The subcommittee earlier requested a report on “Alternatives for Funding the Montana Veterans Home.” Among the various suggestions in the report was closing the facility entirely and giving veterans vouchers to live in nursing homes elsewhere.

The Columbia Falls facility’s budget is expected to increase from $9.93 million to $10.66 million by 2013. About $2.4 million now comes from federal funding, and the rest comes from state special-revenue funding.

By contrast, the Eastern Montana Veterans Home, in Glendive, is an 80-bed, long-term contract facility owned by the state but run by the Glendive Medical Center with only one state employee. Its current $1.67 million budget includes $261,865 from state special revenue funding.

The Columbia Falls veterans home has 143 full-time employees, and many could be out of work if the facility closes. On top of that, the state might have to pay back the federal government $821,000 used for a recent expansion.

While privatizing the Columbia Falls facility would free up cigarette tax funds for use in the general budget, the state would have to settle with its unionized employees and pay to maintain the veterans home’s 20-acre campus, including historic buildings and a cemetery.

Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, representing Whitefish and Columbia Falls, said he’s opposed to closing the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls.

“I’m in strong support of the home,” he said. “You’re talking about veterans that have earned their bed.”