The Department of Veterans Affairs would receive another big boost in discretionary spending in fiscal 2017 under the $4.1 trillion federal budget unveiled by the White House on Tuesday.
The spending plan — the last of Barack Obama's presidency — calls for $75.1 billion in nonmandatory funds for VA programs next fiscal year, an increase of nearly 5 percent from the fiscal 2016 level.
If approved, VA's annual discretionary funding will have grown more than 57 percent under Obama's term in office, a dramatic increase at a time of fierce fiscal fighting on Capitol Hill.
The VA total fiscal 2017 request tops $177.6 billion, an increase of almost 9 percent. The plan also sets aside $104 billion more in advance appropriations for fiscal 2018, to ensure that potential congressional funding battles won't disrupt critical department operations.
The budget plan also includes outlines for a new simplified appeals process for veterans disability benefits claims. VA Secretary Bob McDonald previewed that push last month during an appearance before a Senate panel, calling the existing appeals system broken and outdated.
Those proposals would "streamline the appeals process and provide additional funding to support technological improvements and the hiring of additional employees to continue to reduce both initial claim and appeal backlogs."
VA officials will also continue their push to simplify the department's outside health care programs, which McDonald has complained are confusing to private physicians and redundant in care delivery.
Lawmakers have promised to consider both proposals in coming weeks. McDonald is scheduled to testify about the budget proposal before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
The budget request includes $65 billion for VA medical care, a 6.3 percent increase above the 2016 enacted level. In addition, VA will direct $969 million from the Congress-approved Veterans Choice Act to support "increased access to VA care through critical investments in VA staffing and infrastructure improvements."
"Care in the Community" funds will total $7.2 billion in fiscal 2017, under the plan. Officials say that should cover more than 15.6 million medical procedures for veterans by non-VA providers.
VA officials also highlighted a $663 million request for "innovative and cutting-edge medical research," separate from the department's $1.2 billion from VA's medical care grant programs.
And the proposal includes $1.6 billion for veterans homelessness programs, part of the department's ongoing effort to house every veteran in the country.
If approved by Congress, the VA discretionary budget will equal almost as much as the department's entire budget 10 years ago. Both mandatory and non-mandatory funding totaled $79.5 billion in fiscal 2007, less than half the $163 billion budget finalized for fiscal 2016.
Leo Shane III covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He can be reached at lshane@militarytimes.com.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
