Lawmakers agree on use of advance VA funds - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Lawmakers agree on use of advance VA funds

Congressional negotiators working on landmark legislation to provide advance funding for veterans programs have cleared a major hurdle by deciding that only direct medical programs will be protected.

The agreement between senior members of House and Senate veterans affairs committees removes information technology and medical research from the list of programs that, beginning in 2011, would be funded one year in advance to avoid disruption if Congress fails to pass the annual veterans appropriations bill on time.

Rep. Steve Buyer of Indiana, ranking Republican on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and one of the negotiators, mentioned the decision during a Wednesday roundtable on veterans’ legal issues.

Kawika Riley, a spokesman for the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, confirmed that negotiations are under way to reach a compromise between House and Senate versions of the bill, but said he did not know details of the talks.

If Buyer’s assessment is accurate, the final appropriations bill would provide funding one year in advance for VA medical services, medical support and medical facilities. That would ensure a constant stream of funds for those programs even if Congress does not approve a VA budget by Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year.

To make that happen, Congress would approve a $45 billion veterans medical care budget for 2011 as part of the 2010 budget.

In 19 of the past 22 years, Congress has failed to approve the annual VA budget on time — and the snail’s-pace movement on the 2010 budget makes it appear that it will not be approved by Oct. 1, the start of fiscal 2010.

Advance funding legislation won’t prevent disruption this year because it would not apply until the following year.