State lawmakers have approved next year’s budget, which no longer includes a proposal to close the Barstow Veterans Home and force about 200 veterans to move. The home for veterans was on a list of about $14 billion in trigger cuts to be revisited if the federal government declines to help states and local governments deal with the coronavirus crisis. Earlier this month, lawmakers pulled the home from the list of proposed cuts for fiscal year beginning July 1. Lawmakers approved the budget Monday, June 15. “This budget also includes a guarantee that not a single veteran in this home may ever be involuntarily displaced,” Assemblyman Jay Obernolte said in a statement. State law required legislators pass a budget by midnight Monday, June 15, or they won’t get paid. Newsom still has the power to sign, veto or alter whatever they send him. The Barstow Veterans Home opened in 1996 and has 220 beds. It offers independent living, intermediate care and skilled nursing care.
