Subcommittee approves $82.8 billion Veterans Affairs bill

A Senate Appropriations subcommittee voted Tuesday to appropriate $82.8 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs and military housing and construction in fiscal 2006, including $2 billion in emergency health care funding for veterans.

The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee approved roughly $3.3 billion more than originally requested by President Bush. The full committee is scheduled to consider the legislation Thursday. It will then go to the Senate floor, where it will be substituted for H.R. 2528.

The biggest chunk of the bill is $70.7 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Spending for military construction and housing is set at $12.1 billion.

The White House sent an amended budget request last week, seeking an additional $1.9 billion for veterans' health care in FY06. That is on top of shortfalls of $1 billion or more recently revealed for FY05. The Senate and House are still deciding how much should be appropriated as supplemental funds for fsical 2005, most likely in the Interior appropriations bill.

Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said the full $1.9 billion for emergency health care funds for FY06 in her subcommittee's bill could decrease, depending on how much in supplemental funds is approved for FY05. Together, additional funds for the two years would total $3 billion, she said.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said she will be talking to the Office of Management and Budget over the next several weeks to determine how the budget crisis happened.

"It is astonishing to me that the VA has failed four times now to recognize the number of troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq," Murray said. "I fear that we're going to face this...six months down the road completely not understanding exactly what the numbers are at VA. I for one have lost confidence in the numbers."

For the Veterans Affairs, the committee approved mandatory $36.6 billion in mandatory spending, equal to the administration's request and $1.5 billion above fiscal 2005.

It voted to approve $34.0 billion in discretionary spending, including the $2.0 billion in emergency health care funding. That is $1.2 billion above the administration's amended request, and $3.3 billion over fiscal 2005 and $2.6 billion over the appropriations bill passed by the House in May.

Veterans Affairs discretionary funding includes $23.3 billion for medical services, which is $3.9 billion above fiscal 2005 and $2.3 billion above the House mark. It includes additional money to compensate for savings Bush sought to gain - and the subcommittee rejected - charging veterans fees, increasing drug co-payments and changing eligibility requirements for long-term care. The proposed budget would have implemented an annual $250 enrollment fee and increase the drug co-pay from $7 to $15 for non-disabled, higher income veterans.

Discretionary spending also includes $1.4 billion for information technology, $3.3 billion for medical facilities, $607 million for construction of major projects and $412 million for medical and prosthetic research.

Total military construction is set at $5.9 billion, or $549 million above the president's request and $285 million above last year. Another $4.1 billion is included for family housing, $108 million below the President's request but $59 million above last year.

The subcommittee also approved $1.5 billion for realigning and closing military bases, $376 million below the administration request. The bill bars the Defense Department from diverting funds from bases scheduled for closure to other projects without congressional approval.