By Joe Schulz
Federal benefits for Wisconsin veterans have a major economic impact, equivalent to — if not slightly larger than — the state's beef farming industry, according to new research.
A report from University of Wisconsin-Extension found that while the number of veterans in Wisconsin is declining, spending on veteran services by the U.S. Department of Veterans Administration, or VA, is increasing.
In 2021, Wisconsin received more than $3.5 billion of VA spending, a 163.9 percent increase from 2002 when adjusting for inflation, the study said. During the same period, yearly per-veteran spending in Wisconsin increased from $1,798 to $6,852 when adjusted for inflation.
Steven Deller, a professor of applied and agricultural economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of the report, said those funds return federal tax dollars to the state and inject money into local economies.
"We tend to lose money to Washington," Deller said. "Making sure that the veterans that are in the state are taking full advantage of all the benefits that are offered to them is one way of getting some of that money back into the state."
In 2021, VA spending supported nearly 36,600 jobs across the state and accounts for $5.6 billion of economic activity, Deller said. In Brown County alone, for example, VA spending directly and indirectly affected 1,266 jobs, $90,132 in labor income, $123,775 in total income and $196,676 in industry sales in 2021.
That makes the VA a rival of some well-known industries in Wisconsin. Deller compared it to the beef industry, which supports 34,900 jobs across the state.
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