  The American Veteran's #1 Information Source Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage VA NEWS FLASH from Larry Scott at VA Watchdog dot Org -- 04-10-2009 |
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The American Veteran's #1 Information Source Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage VA NEWS FLASH from Larry Scott at VA Watchdog dot Org -- 04-10-2009 |
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OBAMA EMBRACES YEAR-AHEAD FUNDING FOR VA -- But, will advance appropriation amendment make it through the budget negotiation process?
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by Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org
In his address on Thursday, April 9, 2009, President Barack Obama announced a "swearing-in to the grave" electronic record system to be used by both DoD and the VA. He also, finally, came out in support of "advance funding" for the VA budget. Video of speech is here... with funding comments at the 3:30 mark: http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfapr09/nf040909-10.htm This is also called advance appropriation.
More on that here... How does this work? Basically, Congress would pass a VA budget not for the upcoming fiscal year, but for the one after that, giving the VA a guarantee of funding at least a year in advance. The advantage here is that the VA would know they had "money in the bank" and not have to worry about a budget not being passed. When a budget is not passed, the agency has to work on a continuing resolution meaning that they can't spend anything beyond the level of funding they had the previous year. This usually leads to hiring freezes and creates havoc at the local VA facility level. One drawback here though is this... would the budgets, passed a year in advance, be adequate? Tough to tell... but Congress could always pass emergency supplemental funding if needed. Will advance appropriation become a reality? The House budget bill doesn't contain an amendment providing for advance appropriation for the VA, but the Senate version does. The amendment was inserted by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK). It is expected that budget negotiators will let the amendment stand and the VA will be getting their budget a year in advance. --------------- Below is a DAV press release on this issue...
Veterans Praise President’s Support for Health Care Funding Reform WASHINGTON, April 9—The Disabled American Veterans today applauded President Obama’s statement of support for advance appropriations to provide sufficient, timely and predictable funding for veterans health care. "The President has made it clear that he firmly believes the quality of care that our veterans receive should never be threatened by budget delays," said DAV National Legislative Director Joseph A. Violante. "As a Senator, he co-sponsored an advance appropriations bill and pledged on the campaign trail that his administration’s first budget would recommend passage of advance appropriations legislation. Today, he publicly affirmed that as President of the United States." At today’s White House briefing on a joint Defense-VA initiative to
create a single, electronic record system, the President noted that he and
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki have worked together to
support providing VA medical care appropriations one year in advance of
the start of each fiscal year. This would help end funding delays that
have plagued the VA when Congress has failed to
Advance appropriations legislation, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, was introduced in both the House and Senate earlier this year, and the Senate-passed budget supported this concept in a bipartisan manner. "The Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act would provide timely and predictable funding from year to year, but more important, it would mean better care for our veterans. That is something the President, Congress and veterans all agree is absolutely vital," said Violante. The DAV and the eight other members of the Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget Reform, a growing coalition of military and veterans groups, former VA officials and hospital directors and an overwhelming majority of American voters all support legislation to fund veterans health care funding one year in advance. The Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget Reform ( www.fundingforvets.org ) is comprised of AMVETS, Blinded Veterans Association, Disabled American Veterans, Jewish War Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Paralyzed Veterans of America, The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Vietnam Veterans of America. The 1.2 million-member Disabled American Veterans, a non-profit organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932, represents this nation’s disabled veterans. It is dedicated to a single purpose: building better lives for our nation’s disabled veterans and their families. For more information, visit the organization’s Web site, www.dav.org . -------------------------
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