“House lawmakers finalized the fiscal 2019 Veterans Affairs and military construction budgets on Thursday, sending the full-year spending plan to the president ahead of the new fiscal year deadline for only the second time in nine years.”
“The plan contains a funding boost of more than 6 percent for VA next year, pushing the department’s total budget over $200 billion for the first time. At $209 billion in total spending, the department’s budget has nearly quadrupled over the last 17 years…”
“The VA budget includes $71.2 billion in medical care services, including $8.6 billion for mental health care, $7.5 billion for homeless veterans treatment, $589 million for traumatic brain injury programs and $206 million for suicide prevention outreach.”
“Much of that was already approved as an advance appropriation earlier this year. Lawmakers included $76 billion in advance appropriations for fiscal 2020, to…” Read the full article here.
Source: No shutdown at VA: Congress passes department’s budget on time – By Leo Shane, September 13, 2018. Military Times.
