II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2111 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the treatment of applications for projects to construct new State homes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2017 

Mr. DAINES introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the treatment of applications for projects to construct new State 

homes, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veteran State Home 

5 Grant Backlog Reduction Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF APPLICATIONS 

7 FOR PROJECTS TO CONSTRUCT NEW STATE 

8 HOMES. 

9 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find10 ings: 


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1 (1) The State home construction grants priority 

2 list group 1 of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

3 for fiscal year 2017 contains 57 projects with a cu4 mulative cost of $639,805,081. 

5 (2) Of those projects, 17 are new construction 

6 projects, with a cumulative cost of $445,430,897. 

7 (3) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs has re8 quested between $80,000,000 and $90,000,000 for 

9 construction grants for State homes in each annual 

10 budget submission to Congress for fiscal years 2013 

11 through 2018. 

12 (4) Recurring funding shortfalls have created a 

13 backlog of outstanding State home projects, aver14 aging six years from receipt of State funds to obliga15 tion of Federal funds for new construction projects. 

16 (b) MODIFICATION OF PRIORITY OF PROJECTS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (3) of section 

18 8135(c) of title 38, United States Code, is amend19 ed— 

20 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 

21 and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘In according’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘(A) In according’’; and 

24 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

25 subparagraph: 


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1 ‘‘(B) In according priorities to projects under para2 graph (2) of this subsection, the Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) prioritize grants for safety, renovation, and 

4 bed replacement using the criteria described in sub5 paragraphs (A), (B), (C), (E), and (G) of such para6 graph; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) separately prioritize grants for projects to 

8 construct new State homes using the criteria de9 scribed in subparagraphs (A), (C), (D), (F), (G), 

10 and (H) of such paragraph.’’. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

12 (A) LIST OF APPROVED PROJECTS.—Para13 graph (4) of such section is amended— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘, in the order of their 

15 priority,’’ and inserting ‘‘for safety, ren16 ovation, and bed replacement, in the order 

17 of their priority, and a separate list of ap18 proved projects (including projects that 

19 have been so conditionally approved) to 

20 construct new State homes, in the order of 

21 their priority,’’; and 

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘the list’’ the first 

23 place in appears and inserting ‘‘each such 

24 list’’. 


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1 (B) DEFERRED APPLICATIONS.—Para2 graph (5)(B) of such section is amended by 

3 adding before the period at the end the fol4 lowing: ‘‘on the priority list corresponding with 

5 the project type to which the deferred applica6 tion relates’’. 

7 (C) INCREASE OF GRANT AMOUNT.—Para8 graph (7)(A) of such section is amended by 

9 striking ‘‘list’’ and inserting ‘‘lists’’. 

10 (c) MODIFICATION OF BUDGET SUBMISSION.—Be11 ginning in fiscal year 2019, the President shall include 

12 in the budget submitted to Congress pursuant to section 

13 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, requests for fund14 ing for projects to construct new State homes that is sepa15 rate and distinct from requests for funding for projects 

16 relating to safety, renovation, and bed replacement at 

17 State homes. 

18 (d) PLAN TO CLEAR BACKLOG OF NEW CONSTRUC19 TION PROJECTS.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

20 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 

21 Affairs shall submit to Congress a plan to clear the back22 log of projects to construct new State homes by September 

23 30, 2023. 


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1 (e) STATE HOME DEFINED.—In this section, the 

2 term ‘‘State home’’ has the meaning given that term in 

3 section 101 of title 38, United States Code. 

Æ 


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