Summary of FY 2018 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill - Committee mark

2018 Chairman’s mark:                      $88.166 billion (excluding OCO)

2018 OCO:                                          $638 million

2017 Enacted:                                     $82.326 billion (excluding OCO)

2017 OCO:                                          $432 million

President's Request:                          

MILITARY CONSTRUCTION: $9.585 billion, which is $197 million less than the President’s budget request, is provided for Military Construction programs. 

• Total funding for Active Components is $­­6.8 billion, which is $577 million less than the request.
• The total funding for Reserve Components is $575 million, which is $98 million less than the FY2017 enacted level and equal to the President’s request.
• Family Housing construction is provided $1.4 billion, which is $131 million more than the FY2017 level and equal to the President’s request.
• The Chairman’s mark provides $291 million for the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) account, which is $51 million more than FY2017 level and $35 million above President’s budget request.
• The Chairman’s mark continues language preventing the transfer of detainees and prohibiting closure or realignment of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

VETERANS AFFAIRS: The Chairman’s mark includes $78.329 billion in discretionary funding, which is $3.9 billion more than the 2017 level.                                                                                            

• As authorized by Congress in 2009, the VA medical services accounts are provided funding one year in advance, and the Chairman’s mark includes the budget request of $70.7 billion in discretionary funding for the FY2019 advance appropriations for VA medical services.
• The Chairman’s mark includes $2.650 billion for the current year budget request for medical services, which is equal to the request level.  This is in addition to the FY 2018 advance appropriation provided in the FY 2017 law. 
• The Chairman’s mark provides $698 million for Medical and Prosthetic Research, which is $23 million above the FY 2017 enacted level and $58 million above the President’s request.
• The Chairman’s mark provides $411 million for Construction, Major Projects, which is $118 million below the FY2017 enacted level and $102 million below the President’s request.  The mark also continues restricting availability of funding for major construction projects costing more than $100 million until VA certifies having obtained independent design and construction oversight for the project.
• The Chairman’s mark includes $347 million for VA General Administration, which is $1.5 million above the FY2017 enacted level and equal to the President’s budget request.
• The Chairman’s mark includes $4.1 billion for VA Information Technology, which is $143 million below the FY2017 enacted level and $80 million above the President’s request.
• The Chairman’s mark includes the current year budget request of $1 billion for Non-recurring maintenance in Medical Facilities.

OTHER VA ISSUES:

• Electronic Health Records:   Consistent with previous Appropriations bills, the bill includes language requiring the VA to provide information on the acquisition of VA’s commercial Electronic Health Record system before release of the funding provided. 
• Disability Claims Backlog:     The bill continues monthly reporting requirements from regional offices on disability claims processing performance and quality reports on remediation efforts at the poorest performing regional offices.