| House Denies President’s Request to Double VA Construction Spending Late last week, the House of Representatives passed a funding bill for military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs on a 255 to 163 vote. The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations billincreases military construction and family housing spending to $7.7 billion, which is $900 million over FY 2015 levels. The bill, however, falls below the $8.4 billion president’s budget request for those accounts in FY 2016. The House also approved an amendment to the bill that would prohibit the use of any funds to implement a new BRAC round. You can find project-specific funding information in the House Committee Report, linked here. Lawmakers dealt a blow to the president’s request for $1.143 billion to fund the VA’s major construction account—which funds projects above $10 million—by providing just $561 million, or 50 percent of that request, for FY 2016 funds. Congressional frustration with significant delays and cost overruns on major VA construction projects account for this action. The bill restricts the ability of the VA to move funds between construction accounts and requires increased VA construction reporting requirements concerning project scope changes. For more information, please contact Jimmy Christianson atchristiansonj@agc.org or (703) 837-5325. Return to Top |
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