Two Boston city councilors slammed the mayor for proposing a $724,000 cut to the veterans budget, saying that the city is breaking a promise to support veterans with services they have earned by risking their lives at war.

Councilors Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy sharply criticized the reduction in spending for veterans in the $4.9 billion city budget proposed by Mayor Michelle Wu for next fiscal year, saying the cut is particularly painful, given that the veterans department is so small.

“A 14% cut to the veterans budget is deeply concerning, especially when veterans services is already one of the smallest funded departments in the City of Boston,” Murphy said in a statement to the Herald. “Larger departments may be able to absorb reductions or shift resources, but there is very little room to maneuver in a department this small.

“Any cut can have a direct impact on the services, support, and outreach our veterans rely on,” Murphy added. “As a city, we have a responsibility to keep our promise to those who served our country.”

The veterans services office budget was proposed by Wu at $4.22 million for fiscal year 2027, compared to $4.94 million for this fiscal year, representing a 14.6%, or $723,753 reduction. The city budget is growing overall by 2.1%.

Murphy and Flynn plan to introduce a hearing order and resolution calling for the city to fully fund the veterans department, by restoring the proposed spending cut at Wednesday’s Council meeting. The resolution would likely come up for a vote, unless it is blocked by a councilor and sent to committee for a hearing.

Flynn said the last time there was a proposed cut to the veterans budget in Boston, veterans and military families organized and mobilized to urge Wu to restore the funding to the department.

In 2023, the City Council put forward and approved a series of amendments that would have cut $900,000 for the veterans department, leading to outcry from veterans and an apology from former Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, who oversaw that year’s budget process as chair of the Ways and Means committee.

Wu vetoed the Council amendments, saying at the time that plans to cut from the veterans department “would reduce critical programming and limit our ability to fund future obligations.”

Flynn, a U.S. Navy veteran who served in Operation Enduring Freedom, said he was “shocked” that there hasn’t been any “outcry” from other councilors about the mayor’s proposed cut to the veterans budget, when speaking at a Council working session on the city’s budget last Friday.

He said he traveled recently to Washington D.C. to advocate against the Trump administration’s cuts to veterans services, and has to go there every month for the same purpose. He sees city councilors as having a “moral obligation” to advocate for veterans.

“This is my ninth budget that I’ve been involved in, and I have to say it’s one of the most disappointing when I see a cut of 14% to the veterans department,” Flynn said. “These are programs that veterans earn through their blood, sweat and tears, and major injuries. We’re not giving veterans anything. They’ve earned these rights.

“Government is about making this promise to veterans, that when you go to war, and you return from war, that government will be there for you,” Flynn added. “To have veterans programs cut by a large percent is very concerning — it’s unconscionable.”

Mayor Wu’s office defended her decision to make the spending reduction, stating that the Wu administration is not cutting any direct services to veterans and that the cut reflects broader fiscal constraints facing the city amid a budget crunch.

Wu’s office said the veterans department will continue to provide core services to all qualifying veterans and provide financial and medical assistance to qualifying veterans and their dependents with limited incomes for food, shelter, clothing, and medical care, as required by state law.

The reduction in funding is primarily due to the removal of two grant programs, Bridge The Gap and Hometown Heroes, along with reductions to non-personnel expenses, such as city-branded clothing and other promotional items, and event supplies and rentals, the mayor’s office said.

All three remaining Smokey Bones locations in the Pittsburgh area have closed after the restaurant chain’s parent company filed for bankruptcy.

After the locations in Hempfield, Cranberry and at the Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer closed, people reached out to KDKA asking what to do with their unused gift cards.

Michael Litvak from Beaver County says he’s stuck with $100 worth of Smokey Bones gift cards.

“And the one in Robinson closed about, I guess it was maybe about two weeks ago, they closed it 3 weeks ago, but nothing was said when they closed that that they were closing any other locations,” Litvak said. “And then on April 28, I found out we were going to go to Smokey Bones in Cranberry with friends and our friends said, ‘hey, we just checked their site, we was gonna check the menu, and it says they’re closed.’ So I started looking around, and here they closed all their restaurants on April 28, not even letting anybody know.”

Gift cards are treated as unsecured claims in a bankruptcy. That means you’re in the back of the line, behind the banks and the landlords to get your money back, so the likelihood of recouping your money is slim to none.

What to do with Smokey Bones gift cards

If you bought the gift card with a credit card, that’s your best shot at getting money back. Contact the credit card company and ask for a chargeback for goods and services not received. But you have to ask fast. This works best if you’re only one to four months out from the purchase. 

Did you get it from a third party? If you snagged the card on one of those big display sets at a Costco or grocery store, they’ll sometimes refund or exchange gift cards in special situations like this one.

If both fail, decide if it’s worth the hassle of filing a claim.

The Better Business Bureau recommends always checking with the company’s ownership. In this case, it’s FAT Brands. Right now, the BBB says the claim form and filing instructions are on FAT Brand’s website.

Even though FAT Brands owns other restaurants in the area, like Twin Peaks, they said they will not be honoring the Smokey Bones gift cards at those locations.