[Vision2020] Advance VA Funding Takes Step Forward

[Tom Hansen]

It is about EFFING time.

Things are looking progressively better for our veterans.

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Courtesy of the Army Times at:

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/military_advance_VAfunding_062209w/

Advance VA funding takes step forward
By Rick Maze - Staff writer

Advance funding of the veterans medical budget — the top legislative
priority for veterans groups — will take two leaps forward this week in
the House of Representatives.

First, the House is expected to vote Tuesday to authorize a change in
budget rules so the medical care budget for the Veterans Affairs
Department will be approved a year in advance of the rest of the federal
budget — a move designed to prevent disruption if Congress doesn’t approve
the annual VA budget on time.

In this case, “if” is a near certainty; in 19 of the last 22 years,
Congress has failed to pass a funding bill for VA by the Oct. 1 start of
the fiscal year.

Second, and equally important, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee also
is expected to vote Tuesday to approve the first advanced budget. Health
care funding for fiscal 2011 will be included in the 2010 veterans
appropriations bill that the committee is scheduled to pass.

Peter Dickinson, a former House Veterans’ Affairs Committee staffer who is
working as a consultant for veterans groups trying to pass advance
funding, said the two legislative actions on Tuesday “are huge steps
forward for veterans health care funding reform.”

Dickinson said the news should keep getting better.

“With the Senate expected to take similar actions in the next month, and
with President Obama onboard, advance appropriations are closer than ever
to becoming a reality,” he said.

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Courtesy of Disabled American Veterans at:

http://www.dav.org/voters/BudgetReform.aspx

DAV and its allies in the Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget
Reform (“Partnership”) – a coalition of nine veteran service organizations
with a combined membership of 8 million veterans – helped develop and
fully endorse the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform Act. This bill
authorizes Congress to appropriate the funding for veterans’ health care
one year in advance, and adds greater transparency to VA’s internal budget
process to ensure sufficient funding is approved.

Congress has exercised and continues to exercise its power to approve
advance appropriation laws. Currently, Congress funds a number of programs
through an advance appropriations budget process, including the Low Income
Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Section 8 housing programs

Unlike the mandatory funding provided to the Medicare and Medicaid
systems, advance appropriations would allow Congress to approve funding
each year and retain all of its oversight authority over VA programs.

The Veterans Health Care Budget Reform Act (S. 3527 and H.R. 6939) was
introduced in September 2008 by Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee
Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and House Veterans’ Affairs Committee
Chairman Bob Filner (D-Calif.).

The proposal received bipartisan support from other leaders in Congress,
including Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). In
fact, during the presidential campaign, President-elect Obama pledged to
push for advance appropriations legislation in his first year in office.

The legislation has also been endorsed by The Military Coalition,
comprised of 35 organizations representing more than 5.5 million members
of the uniformed services--active, reserve, retired, survivors,
veterans--and their families.

In addition, a growing list of more than two dozen former VA medical
center directors, regional healthcare network directors, Under Secretaries
and Assistant Secretaries, and other senior VA officials have joined
together to support the proposed funding reform.

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The Advanced Funding Proposal (PDF File)

http://tinyurl.com/AdvanceFunding

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Pro patria,

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the
tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."

-- Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.