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June 19, 2018

More than 30 national military and veterans service organizations joined forces June 19 to send a letter to Senate leaders, urging them to support a bipartisan amendment to exempt funding for the VA MISSION Act from sequestration.

The “Complete the Mission” amendment was introduced by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Vice Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

Many of our members are aware the VA MISSION Act was signed into law by the President earlier this month. The ink was barely dry on the legislation before reports came out about problems with paying for the massive reform bill.

While Congress agreed on funding until next May, lawmakers were unable to agree how to fund the bill beyond that.

In an effort to secure long-term funding for the VA MISSION Act, Shelby and Leahy's amendment would allow Congress to provide sufficient funds without triggering sequestration or requiring cuts to other VA health care programs.

The amendment allows funding currently appropriated through the VA's Veterans Choice Program to be move from a mandatory account - one usually designated for entitlement programs to pay for VA benefits - to a discretionary one where the VA funds its medical programs and services.

However, moving the money to a discretionary account means funding must fall below the budget caps Congress established earlier this year for a two-year funding deal.

While the terms seem arcane, arbitrary and budgetary - which they are - they dictate certain rules within Congress that have very real policy implications.

Lawmakers did not consider the increased costs associated with the VA MISSION Act when setting the discretionary funding levels for FY 2019, nor the anticipated caps for FYs 2020 and 2021.

“MOAA and other military and veterans service organizations have spent significant time and effort compelling Congress to pass the legislation and to provide the VA with sufficient resources to implement the VA MISSION Act,” says retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins, MOAA's President and CEO. “It is imperative the VA not be forced to choose between fully funding its own hospitals and clinics versus community care programs for veterans who would otherwise be forced to wait too long or travel too far to access VA care. There is a developing trend of robbing Peter to pay Paul that we unfortunately are seeing far too often as we work new legislation.”

Send this MOAA-suggested message to your senators.