Oregon veterans are taking Gov. Kate Brown to task for proposing millions of dollars less for services than voters might have assumed when they passed Measure 96 in November.

Measure 96 was the most popular measure on the fall ballot, winning 84 percent to 16 percent. It sets aside 1.5 percent of Oregon Lottery funds for services such as education, housing, health care and helping veterans better access their benefits. That's expected to hit more than $18 million over the next two years.

Brown's budget, revealed last week, includes that funding as directed. But at the same time, it would spend $10 million less from the general fund than it does in the current budget. If lawmakers agree next year, that means veterans and their supporters would see a slight gain overall, but far less money than expected.

"It's a huge betrayal on our part, I think, and maybe a huge misunderstanding of the governor," said Ken Kraft, an Iraq veteran and senior vice commander of the Oregon VFW. "Because to go ahead and cut this money like that right when it comes, that's about as dirty as it gets ... There's other places they can cut money."

Rep. Julie Parrish, R-West Linn, who was a leading advocate for Measure 96, called the governor's budget proposal "a slap in the face to Oregon voters." Parrish's husband, Mark, served in the Army during the Persian Gulf War and later in Iraq in 2009 and 2010.

Brown's budget proposal calls for a roughly equal combination of cuts and new revenues to close an estimated $1.7 billion budget shortfall over the next two years. The deficit is largely driven by the state's increasing Medicaid bill and rising personnel costs, including public employee pensions.

Kraft said he expected the state would use the newly dedicated lottery money to hire more service officers who would help veterans navigate the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' benefits claims system. If the state set up a grant program, the VFW might hire some of those officers.

After lawmakers referred the measure to voters last spring, they wrote a supportive message in the voter's pamphlet saying "Oregon can do more to connect veterans with much-needed services." Measure 96 would provide "critical support" for veterans "in addition to current state funding for veterans," lawmakers wrote.

But rather than using all of the lottery money to increase veterans' services, Brown's budget proposal would reduce general fund spending and use much of the lottery money to backfill the cut.

Without any cuts, the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs would see a roughly 140 percent increase in lottery and general fund money in 2017-19.

A spokesman for Brown declined to answer why the governor proposed the cut -- a relatively tiny line item in her $20.8 billion budget.

"The governor made some very tough but strategic choices," press secretary Bryan Hockaday said Friday, adding that Brown's proposal would maintain veterans' services at the current level.

There are "no other cuts to direct veterans' services" in the governor's budget, Hockaday wrote in an email.

Sean Davis, an Oregon National Guard veteran who received a Purple Heart in Iraq, said he understands Brown had to reconcile voters' approval of measures that spend state money with a budget shortfall and the defeat of Measure 97, a $3 billion-a-year corporate tax increase.

But Davis, who teaches writing at Mount Hood Community College, also said veterans' needs continue to go unmet. One of his students recently donated a sleeping bag that Davis took to a homeless veteran.

"People who can't really afford to give are giving because they see it," Davis said. "So having politicians play games with it is really upsetting to me."

Brown has also called for overruling voters who approved Measure 98, an effort to spend more on improving high school graduation rates. She proposed spending just $139 million over two years -- less than half of the $294 million, or $800 per student, described in the measure.

Parrish questioned Brown's proposed budget cuts, which also include closing a state psychiatric hospital in Junction City that opened last year.

"It's either political or it's bad budgeting," Parrish said.

Parrish said the threat of controversial cuts could bolster Democrats' push to raise taxes next year, with the argument that "we're going to put mentally ill people out on the street and we're not going to help veterans unless we raise taxes."

"Well, voters just told you, governor, they didn't want a big tax increase," Parrish said, referring to Measure 97.

Lawmakers have already signaled they'll reject portions of Brown's budget.

Kraft said politicians who go along with cuts to veterans services should expect a cold shoulder next year when they put in appearances at July Fourth and Memorial Day festivities.

Said Kraft: "They're not gonna use us that way."

-- Hillary Borrud

503-294-4034; @hborrud