House, Senate GOP split over supplemental funds for VA

House and Senate Republicans were at odds Thursday over supplemental veterans' healthcare funds, with the White House set to send up a $975 million fiscal 2005 request that the House plans to act on later in the day.

That is well short of the $1.5 billion senators added Wednesday night to a $26.3 billion fiscal 2006 Interior spending bill.

And with Senate Republicans loath to take up a slimmed-down veterans package after last night's sometimes testy debate, GOP leaders face the possibility of leaving town for the July Fourth recess without having given the funds final approval. The situation is reminiscent of two summers ago when, with wildfires burning throughout the West, the Senate attached a $1.9 billion aid package, albeit with some items unrelated to fire suppression, to another spending bill.

But under prodding from conservatives, the House cut the package almost in half, passed it right before leaving for the August recess and sent it to unreceptive senators who felt "jammed" by the House's actions.

The Senate eventually went along in that case, but at presstime there were no signs the chamber plans to act on the House package. The White House plans to send up an fiscal 2006 budget amendment in the near future, the Senate logic goes, and it would be more prudent to wait and include the additional funds in the Interior spending bill and complete the conference on that bill quickly when Congress reconvenes next month.

But House Republicans are betting that, having approved the $975 million supplemental, senators will concede that voting on the smaller measure is their best chance to get money out the door before going home to meet constituents. The Senate's $1.5 billion package is attached to an unrelated spending bill with its own differences the chambers must reconcile and so will not be completed until next month at the earliest, House aides argue. And since the $975 million request outlined today by Veterans Affairs Secretary Nicholson represents the best estimate available to meet current VA needs, there are no plans to adjust that total upwards to gain more traction in the Senate.

The $975 million is aimed at replenishing funds drained from capital accounts and contingency funds for unanticipated costs. Nicholson told an animated House Veterans Affairs Committee this morning that the administration's request, while not an emergency need, clearly recognized the desire of lawmakers and veterans groups to backfill those costs. That was not enough to sway some panel Democrats, such as Rep. Bob Filner of California, who called for Nicholson to resign over the matter. "He is not a leader, he has failed the veterans; he has failed the nation," Filner said of Nicholson, an eight-year active duty Army veteran.

The largest piece would be $273 million aimed at covering an increase from 23,553 VA patients estimated in 2002 to 103,000. The earlier estimate did not take into account large numbers of combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Another $226 million would go to make up for an error in estimating the costs of long-term nursing home care, and $200 million would go toward care for veterans with service-connected disabilities. The request would provide $84 million to purchase medical equipment and supplies, $58 million for initiatives to help reduce waiting lists at VA clinics, and $39 million to provide benefits for dependants of 100 percent service-connected veterans. And the VA has not been immune to high gas prices, requesting $95 million to cope with increased energy costs.