Fiscal 2019 MILCON-VA Appropriations

Overview

On September 21, 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law H.R. 5895, the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs (MILCON-VA) Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019.  The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill on September 13, while the U.S. Senate passed it on September 12.

H.R. 5895 provides $96.8 billion in MILCON and veterans services discretionary funding.  The legislation provides $10.3 billion in MILCON funding for the Department of Defense (DoD), including $190.1 million for the Army National Guard and $129.1 million for the Air National Guard.  It also provides $86.5 billion in discretionary funding to the VA, which is $5.0 billion above FY18 levels.

Bill Highlights

General Provisions

• $8.6 billion for mental health programs for the VA, which includes $206.1 million for suicide prevention outreach
• $14.0 million in additional funds for PFOS/PFOA identification, mitigation, and clean-up costs across DoD
• $348.0 million for opioid treatment and prevention programs for the VA
• $270.0 million for the VA Rural Health Initiative

Army National Guard

• $190.1 million in Army National Guard military construction funding, includes funding for MILCON projects in 8 states

Air National Guard

• $129.1 million in Air National Guard military construction funding, includes funding for MILCON projects in 7 states