Big meeting on Hot Springs VA
South Dakota’s congressional delegation will finally get what it wants regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs’ proposal to shut down the VA medical center in Hot Springs: A meeting with department Secretary Erik Shinseki.
The issue is so important that Gov. Dennis Daugaard will also be there.
Shinseki originally rejected a request from the delegation to meet. But Sen. Tim Johnson succeeded in getting Shinseki to reconsider.
Perhaps Shinseki reconsidered because Johnson is the chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the VA’s budget requests. In other words, Johnson has immense power over the department’s purse.
It’s that kind of power that could make the VA reconsider its proposal for Hot Springs.
