“House Appropriations lawmakers are weighing a $250.9 billion 2021 budget plan for the Department of Veterans Affairs, making VA the second-largest federal agency by budget, second only to the Pentagon.”
“The new proposal continues a nearly two-decade streak of significant expansion of VA’s budget, going even further than the president’s original budget request released in February, which outlined a plan for a $243.3 billion budget.”
“Even that plan was nearly double what VA operated with 10 years ago and more than five times what its budget was in fiscal year 2001 when VA operated with $45 billion. VA’s budget has consistently increased since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The president’s budget ask for 2021 included a $12.9 billion increase, or about 10.2 percent more than 2020.”
“House lawmakers upped that budget by more than $7 billion over President Donald Trump’s plan, making for an about 3 percent increase over his original proposal and about $15.2 billion, or 6.5 percent higher than the approved 2020 budget that totaled more than $235 billion.”
“House Appropriations lawmakers released their 2021 draft VA budget plan July 5 and were set to hold a markup of the plan at 8 p.m. EST July 6.”
“The plan includes $12.5 billion in emergency spending for medical services, community care under the Mission Act, medical support and facilities, electronic health records and IT systems…” Read the full article here.
Source: House lawmakers weigh $250.9 billion 2021 Veterans Affairs budget plan — the largest ever —By Abbie Bennett, July 6, 2020. Connecting Vets.
