A Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) subcommittee marked up the FY2012 Military Construction/Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill yesterday. The SAC MilCon/VA subcommittee bill provides $13.7 billion for total Military Construction appropriations in FY2012, $1 billion below the president’s request. Last week, the House passed its version of the bill, which reduced the FY2012 Military Construction request by $750 million.
The FY2012 funding level in the bill is $2.9 billion below the FY2011 enacted level. This large reduction is due primarily to the completion of FY2011 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) requirements.
According to a committee press release (full details of the bill are not yet available), the SAC MilCon/VA bill cuts requested active forces military facilities construction by $1 billion. The bill fully funds the request for Guard and Reserve facilities construction, Family Housing, Chemical Demilitarization construction, the NATO Security Investment Program (NSIP), and BRAC.
The Military Construction/VA bill is the first FY2012 appropriations bill to be marked up in the Senate. So far, the House has passed three bills (Homeland Security, Military Construction/VA, and Agriculture) and the House Appropriations Committee approved three other bills (DoD, Energy and Water, and Financial Services) to be considered on the House floor.
The full Senate Appropriations Committee will take up the bill tomorrow.
