Title: VA-DoD Shared Medical Facilities Act of 2019
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
VA-DoD Shared Medical Facilities Act of 2019
This bill authorizes the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to enter into agreements for the planning, design, and construction, or leasing, of facilities to be operated as shared medical facilities.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2328 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2328

  To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide the Secretary of 
 Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs authority to enter into 
 agreements for the planning, design, and construction, or leasing, of 
 facilities to be operated as shared medical facilities, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 30, 2019

 Mr. Sullivan introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide the Secretary of 
 Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs authority to enter into 
 agreements for the planning, design, and construction, or leasing, of 
 facilities to be operated as shared medical facilities, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``VA-DoD Shared Medical Facilities Act 
of 2019''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO PLAN, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCT, OR LEASE, SHARED 
              MEDICAL FACILITIES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 55 of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 1104 the following new section:
``Sec. 1104a. Shared medical facilities with the Department of Veterans 
              Affairs
    ``(a) Agreements.--The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs may enter into agreements with each other for the 
planning, design, and construction, or leasing, of facilities to be 
operated as shared medical facilities.
    ``(b) Transfer of Amounts by Secretary of Defense.--(1) The 
Secretary of Defense may transfer to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
amounts as follows:
            ``(A) Amounts, not in excess of the amount authorized by 
        law for an unspecified minor military construction project, for 
        the construction of a shared medical facility if--
                    ``(i) the amount of the share of the Department of 
                Defense for the estimated cost of the project does not 
                exceed the amount specified in subsection (a)(2) of 
                section 2805 of this title; and
                    ``(ii) the other requirements of such section have 
                been met with respect to amounts identified for 
                transfer.
            ``(B) Amounts appropriated for the Defense Health Program 
        for the purpose of the planning, design, and construction, or 
        the leasing of space, for a shared medical facility.
    ``(2) The authority to transfer amounts under this section is in 
addition to any other authority to transfer amounts available to the 
Secretary of Defense.
    ``(3) Section 2215 of this title does not apply to a transfer of 
funds under this subsection.
    ``(c) Transfer of Amounts by Secretary of Veterans Affairs.--The 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs may transfer to the Secretary of Defense 
amounts as follows:
            ``(1) Amounts appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs for `Construction, minor projects' for use for the 
        planning, design, or construction of a shared medical facility 
        if the amount of the share of the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs for the estimated cost of the project does not exceed 
        the amount specified in section 8104(a)(3)(A) of title 38.
            ``(2) Amounts appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs for `Construction, major projects' for use for the 
        planning, design, or construction of a shared medical facility 
        if--
                    ``(A) the amount of the share of the Department of 
                Veterans Affairs for the estimated cost of the project 
                exceeds the amount specified in subsection (a)(3) of 
                section 8104 of title 38; and
                    ``(B) the other requirements of such section have 
                been met with respect to amounts identified for 
                transfer.
            ``(3) Amounts appropriated to the applicable appropriation 
        account of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the purpose 
        of leasing space for a shared medical facility if the amount of 
        the share of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the 
        estimated cost of the project does not exceed the amount 
        specified in section 8104(a)(3)(B) of title 38.
    ``(d) Receipt of Amounts by Secretary of Defense.--(1) Any amount 
transferred to the Secretary of Defense by the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs for necessary expenses for the planning, design, and 
construction of a shared medical facility, if the amount of the share 
of the Department of Defense for the cost of such project does not 
exceed the amount specified in section 2805(a)(2) of this title, may be 
credited to accounts of the Department of Defense available for the 
construction of a shared medical facility.
    ``(2) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of Defense by the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the purpose of the planning and 
design, or the leasing of space, for a shared medical facility may be 
credited to accounts of the Department of Defense available for such 
purposes, and may be used for such purposes.
    ``(3) Using accounts credited with transfers from the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Defense may 
carry out unspecified minor military construction projects, if the 
share of the Department of Defense for the cost of such project does 
not exceed the amount specified in section 2805(a)(2) of this title.
    ``(e) Receipt of Amounts by Secretary of Veterans Affairs.--(1) Any 
amount transferred to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs by the 
Secretary of Defense for necessary expenses for the planning, design, 
and construction of a shared medical facility, if the amount of the 
share of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the cost of such 
project does not exceed the amount specified in section 8104(a)(3)(A) 
of title 38, may be credited to the `Construction, minor projects' 
account of the Department of Veterans Affairs and used for the 
necessary expenses of constructing such shared medical facility.
    ``(2) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
by the Secretary of Defense for necessary expenses for the planning, 
design, and construction of a shared medical facility, if the amount of 
the share of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the cost of such 
project exceeds the amount specified in subsection (a)(3)(A) of section 
8104 of title 38, may be credited to the `Construction, major projects' 
account of the Department of Veterans Affairs and used for the 
necessary expenses of constructing such shared medical facility if the 
other requirements of such section have been met with respect to 
amounts identified for transfer.
    ``(3) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
by the Secretary of Defense for the purpose of leasing space for a 
shared medical facility may be credited to accounts of the Department 
of Veterans Affairs available for such purposes, and may be used for 
such purposes.
    ``(f) Merger of Amounts Transferred.--Any amount transferred under 
this section shall be merged with, and be available for the same 
purposes and the same time period as, the appropriation or fund to 
which transferred.
    ``(g) Shared Medical Facility Defined.--(1) In this section, the 
term `shared medical facility' means a building or buildings, or a 
campus, intended to be used by both the Department of Defense and the 
Department of Veterans Affairs for the provision of health care 
services, whether under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense or 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and whether or not located on a 
military installation or on real property under the jurisdiction of the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
    ``(2) Such term includes any necessary building and auxiliary 
structure, garage, parking facility, mechanical equipment, abutting 
sidewalks, and accommodations for attending personnel.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 55 of such title is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 1104 the following new item:

``1104a. Shared medical facilities with the Department of Veterans 
                            Affairs.''.
    (c) Technical Correction.--Paragraph (3) of section 8104(a) of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(3) For purposes of this subsection:
            ``(A) The term `major medical facility project' means a 
        project for the construction, alteration, or acquisition of a 
        medical facility involving a total expenditure of more than 
        $20,000,000, but such term does not include an acquisition by 
        exchange, nonrecurring maintenance projects of the Department, 
        or the construction, alteration, or acquisition of a shared 
        Federal medical facility for which the Department's estimated 
        share of the project costs does not exceed $20,000,000.
            ``(B) The term `major medical facility lease' means a lease 
        for space for use as a new medical facility at an average 
        annual rent of more than $1,000,000.''.
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