On March 23, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans’ Affairs, and Related Agencies approved, by unanimous consent, the FY2017 Military Construction, Veterans’ Affairs, and Related Agencies spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered).
According to the committee summary, the measure would allocate $81.6 billion in discretionary funding for FY2017. This amount is $1.8 billion over FY2016, but $1.2 billion below President Obama’s FY2017 budget request.
The bill would provide $7.9 billion for military construction projects, $305 million below FY2016 and $250 million over the president’s request. This amount includes $1.3 billion for family housing construction projects. The amount for family housing is $84 million below FY2016 and equal to the president’s request.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would receive $176.1 billion in overall funds for FY2017. This amount is $13.4 billion over FY2016 and includes $73.5 billion in discretionary funding, $2.1 billion over FY2016. In response to the administration’s request, the bill would provide $850 million in additional funding to expand health care services, long-term care for veterans, support services for caregivers of veterans, and homelessness. VA medical services would receive $52.5 billion.
Additional information will be made available when the committee release its report.
