On May 31, the House approved, 407-12, the Military Construction, Veterans’ Affairs, and Related Agencies FY2013 spending bill (H.R. 5854). The House Appropriations Committee passed the legislation on May 16 (see The Source, 5/18/12). The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the bill (S. 3215) on May 22 (see The Source, 5/25/12).
According to the committee report, the bill would provide a total of $71.7 billion in discretionary funding for military construction, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and related agencies, equal to FY2012 spending levels and $740 million less than President Obama’s FY2013 budget request.
The legislation would fund several programs to address the unique needs of women veterans and military families. The chart below compares FY2013 spending levels for such programs in the House and Senate bills to FY2012 levels and the president’s request.
|
Program/Agency |
FY2012 |
President’s Request |
||
| Military Construction | $13.05 billion | $11.22 billion | $10.65 billion | $10.65 billion |
| Family housing | $1.683 billion | $1.651 billion | $1.65 billion | $1.651 billion |
| Department of Veterans’ Affairs* | $124.156 billion | $140.332 billion | $135.4 billion | $135.6 billion |
| Veterans Health Administration | $53.122 billion | $53.304 billion | $54.462 billion | $53.279 billion |
*Includes discretionary and mandatory funding.
