Unions, veterans groups lobby for bigger VA budget

Stakeholders from across the country appeared before a House subcommittee Thursday to petition for better funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Representatives from veterans groups and employee unions presented their cases to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies. Major concerns cited include a lack of adequate funding to speed the processing of veterans' disability claims and staffing and infrastructure needs at VA hospitals and health facilities. The President's fiscal 2002 budget blueprint increases the VA's budget to $23.4 billion, an increase of nearly $3 billion in two years. But American Federation of Government Employees officials said the Bush administration's proposed 4.5 percent increase for the agency's 2002 budget doesn't go far enough. "The increases in fiscal 2000 and 2001 didn't keep pace with medical care inflation," said Alma Lee, president of AFGE's Council of Veterans Affairs Locals. Earlier this week, veterans groups lobbied lawmakers for more money to complete a backlog of construction projects at aging VA hospitals. On Wednesday, the House Veterans Affairs Committee approved $250 million in fiscal year 2002 and $300 million in fiscal 2003 to cover urgent construction and repair needs for veterans' health facilities.