Restoring Services for Our Veterans
When the federal government steps back, Florida steps forward.
David Jolly believes Florida must step up to fill the gap as federal cuts reduce veteran services, especially for the state's 1.5 million veterans. His plan calls for expanding access to mental health care for PTSD and traumatic brain injury, eliminating long wait times for appointments, and building stronger partnerships between state agencies, county veteran service offices, and community organizations to deliver housing assistance, job training, and transition support in every region.
Florida is home to more than 1.5 million veterans. This isn't a talking point. It's a responsibility.
Men and women who served in uniform across every generation. Different wars. Different eras. Same promise made to them when they signed up.
That promise was simple. Serve your country, and your country will serve you when you come home.
Right now, that promise is breaking. Federal cuts to veteran services are real. Wait times for care are getting longer. Mental health support is harder to access. Housing assistance is harder to find. And too many veterans are being told the help they were promised just isn't there anymore.
This isn't a failure of the people who serve veterans every day. It's a failure of the system that's supposed to support them. And it's happening at the worst possible time, in a state with one of the largest veteran populations in the nation.
Florida can do better. Florida must do better.
When Washington steps back, states have a choice.
They can point fingers and say it's someone else's problem. Or they can step up and fill the gap.
Florida should lead the nation in veteran services. Not because it's easy. Because it's right.
That means expanding access to mental health care for veterans struggling with PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and the invisible wounds that don't show up on a medical chart. It means ensuring no veteran waits months for an appointment that should happen in weeks.
It means building partnerships between state agencies, county veteran service offices, and community organizations that already know how to serve this population. It means making sure housing assistance, job training, and transition support are available in every region of the state, not just the ones with the loudest voices.
It means recognizing that serving veterans isn't charity. It's repaying a debt.
And it means understanding that when veterans thrive, their families thrive. Their communities thrive. Florida thrives.
This is bigger than party.
There is no Democratic or Republican way to care for someone who served in uniform. There is only the right way and the wrong way.
The right way is making sure every veteran in this state can access the care, the support, and the dignity they were promised. The wrong way is waiting for someone else to solve it.
Florida has the resources. Florida has the infrastructure. What's been missing is the political will to make veteran services a true priority, not just a line in a budget or a talking point in a speech.
That changes when leadership decides it changes. When a governor says this matters more than the politics around it. When the state decides that filling the federal gap isn't optional, it's the baseline.
Veterans don't need more rhetoric. They need action. They need follow-through. They need a state that treats their service as sacred, not transactional.
Join the fight to restore services for Florida's veterans.
This campaign is about more than one election. It's about the state Florida can become when we choose to lead on the issues that matter most.
Get InvolvedA state is measured by how it treats the people who served it.
Not by the words in a press release. Not by the flags at a parade. By the care it provides when the cameras are gone and the speeches are over.
Florida's veterans deserve a state that matches their commitment with its own. That fills the gaps when Washington falls short. That leads the nation not in talk, but in action.
That's the Florida this campaign is fighting for. A state that keeps its promises. A state that honors service with more than words.
Frequently asked questions
Q. How many veterans live in Florida?
Florida is home to roughly 1.5 million veterans, one of the largest veteran populations of any state in the country. That is well over a million Floridians who served in uniform, plus their families.
Q. How serious is veteran suicide in Florida?
Veteran suicide is a serious and persistent crisis in Florida. The VA's 2022 Florida data sheet recorded 540 veteran suicide deaths in a single year, an unadjusted rate of 37.1 per 100,000, which is higher than the rate for Florida's general adult population. Any veteran in crisis can call 988 and press 1, or the Florida Veterans Support Line at 1-844-693-5838.
Q. How many Florida veterans receive VA disability benefits?
More than 400,000 Florida veterans receive VA disability compensation, according to the VA's Florida State Summary. The Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs separately reports about 504,000 service-connected disabled veterans living in the state.
Q. What VA hospitals and clinics serve Florida veterans?
Florida is served by the nation's largest VA hospital network, known as VISN 8 or the VA Sunshine Healthcare Network, headquartered in Tampa. It includes seven healthcare systems, eight VA medical centers, and more than 90 outpatient clinics, with over 35,000 employees.
Q. Why does the federal government cutting VA staff matter for my state?
Because veterans live in every state, and a national VA slowdown shows up locally. When the VA cuts staff, the effects are felt in appointment waits, claims backlogs, and crisis support in real communities.
Q. What is the PACT Act and who does it help?
The PACT Act is a 2022 federal law that expanded health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances, including burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan and Agent Orange in Vietnam. Within two years, more than 1 million veterans and survivors had received PACT Act disability benefits.
Q. How many veterans die by suicide each year?
The VA's most recent report found 6,407 veteran suicides in 2022, an average of about 17.6 veterans per day. Florida alone recorded 540 veteran suicide deaths in 2022. Any veteran in crisis can reach the Veterans Crisis Line by calling 988 and pressing 1.
Q. Is Florida considered a good state for veterans to live in?
Florida has worked hard to earn a reputation as one of the most veteran-friendly states in the nation. The draw includes no state income tax, property tax exemptions for disabled veterans, tuition waivers, and a statewide network of State Veterans' Homes and benefits counselors.