2025 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Appropriations Bill Commits Millions to Holloman

2025 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill Commits Millions to NM and HollomanPhoto by2nd Lif Media Alamogordo Town News

The Fiscal Year 2025 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provides the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and related agencies $129.57 billion in non-defense discretionary funding, as well as $210.41 billion in mandatory funding, to fulfill our nation’s obligations to our veterans. The bill also provides advance appropriations for our veterans in fiscal year 2026, including $131.44 billion for veterans’ medical care and $222.23 billion for veterans benefits. In addition, the bill includes $19.31 billion in defense spending for military construction and family housing for fiscal year 2025.

U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico announced the bipartisan, unanimous Senate Appropriations Committee passage of the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill details and how New Mexico and the Alamogordo area benefits.

The bill includes $36.9 million for New Mexico’s military installations and significant wins for New Mexico’s veterans. Heinrich is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the former Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies.

“These major investments will deliver for our nation’s veterans and military families, keeping our promise that when they return home, they will receive the recognition, education, housing, and health care that they have earned through their service. It will also further cement our state’s leadership in national security and strengthen our local economies," said Heinrich, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “And this bipartisan bill will ensure that our service members are best equipped with state-of-the-art technology and resources needed to defend freedom at home and abroad. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am focused on continuing to deliver on our responsibility to support the heroic Americans who sacrifice so much to keep us safe. I will do everything I can to get this bill across the finish line.”

In total, this FY25 Appropriations Bill includes an overarching $148.9 billion in discretionary funding for Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Activities. The funding includes $129.57 billion in discretionary funds for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and $19.31 billion for Military Construction and Family Housing, which is $1.7 billion over the President’s Budget Request. A full bill summary can be found here.

The Appropriations Committee also passed Heinrich’s FY25 Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration Appropriations Bill, which Heinrich authored as Chairman of that Subcommittee. Next, the bills will be considered by the full United States Senate.

New Mexico Military Construction

Heinrich secured Committee support of investments in four New Mexico projects, as well as report language to address White Sands Missile Range’s energy infrastructure.

Heinrich successfully included funding for the following projects:

• $7,200,000 to construct a facility for Deployed Aircraft Ground Response Element (DAGRE) at Cannon Air Force Base.
• $4,000,000 to construct an Air Force Special Operations Command Security Forces Squadron Operations Building at Cannon Air Force Base.

Heinrich and U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) also successfully included funding for the following projects:

• $22,400,000 to plan and design a new High Speed Test Track at Holloman Air Force Base.
• $3,330,000 to plan and design a new, consolidated North Range Mission Control Center at White Sands Missile Range.

Heinrich also secured language supporting the energy infrastructure at White Sands Missile Range. The report language states:

“The Committee encourages U.S. Army Headquarters to work with the White Sands Missile Range to find a mutually agreeable solution to the energy infrastructure needs on the installation. The Committee also directs the U.S. Army to provide a report on mutually agreed upon solutions to the energy infrastructure needs of White Sands Missile Range.”

Support for Veterans

Heinrich secured Committee support for major increases in funding to key veteran programs. Heinrich also fought to include key language to protect access to abortions for veterans in cases of rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is at risk, but the Committee did not ultimately include the provision.

Transportation for Rural Veterans

Heinrich successfully secured language urging the VA to expand eligibility and increase funding for the Highly Rural Transportation Grants (HRTG) Program, which is funded within the Office of Rural Health. The expansion would improve transportation access to and from facilities that serve rural veterans under the HRTG Program by expanding the definition of “Highly Rural.” The HRTG Program helps veterans in rural areas travel to VA or VA-authorized health care facilities. Improving access to this program will directly benefit New Mexico veterans who utilize HRTGs in Colfax, Union, Mora, Harding, San Miguel, Quay, Guadalupe, Cibola, Socorro, Torrance, Lincoln, DeBaca, Catron, Sierra, and Hidalgo Counties through the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services.

Rural Health

Heinrich successfully secured $343 million for a home-based primary care program that serves veterans located in rural and highly rural areas by increasing relevant research, innovation, and dissemination capabilities. The many New Mexico veterans who live in rural and tribal areas often must travel to major medical centers in urban areas for medical care, sometimes requiring multiple-day trips. Native American veterans are disproportionally affected by the distance they must travel for medical care. The bill delivers $5 million more than President's Budget Request.

Veterans Affairs Home Loan Programs

Heinrich successfully secured language directing the VA to provide a report on the efforts taken to assist veterans impacted by the end of the Veterans Assistance Partial Claim Payment (VAPCP) program, as well as provide a status on the implementation of the new Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase program that was created to help veterans avoid or recover from delinquency and foreclosure. Heinrich has previously pushed the VA to acknowledge and address the impacts it caused to thousands of veterans facing delinquency or foreclosure due to increased mortgage payments caused by loan modifications after the abrupt end of the VAPCP, including New Mexicans. Many of those impacted had to modify their loans using interest rates that sometimes topped 7%, causing significant increases in mortgage payments that put veterans at risk of delinquency or foreclosure.

Homeless Assistance

Heinrich successfully secured $3.2 billion to expand the Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program, the Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program, and the Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program. This funding will build on the success of the FY24 Military Construction, VA, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill by providing a 3% increase in funding.

The SSVF, GPD, and HUD-VASH programs support communities across the nation by providing critical services and housing for veterans and their families. The programs have decreased the number of veterans experiencing homelessness by 4% since early 2020, and by 52% since 2010. As of January 2020, New Mexico had an estimated 3,333 veterans experiencing homelessness on any given day, as reported by Continuums of Care to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Of that total, 252 were veterans experiencing chronic homelessness.

Construction of State Extended Care Facilities

Heinrich successfully secured $150 million for the construction of state extended care facilities, which is $9 million more than the President’s Budget Request. Heinrich also secured language urging the VA Secretary to consider additional factors in their grant prioritization process. The current prioritization criteria can have an adverse impact to veterans in rural states, as the definition of a state with the greatest needs is based on population. This bill urges the VA to include consideration of geographic diversity among grant recipients, whether a facility has an industry-standard Facility Condition Index maximum rating of poor, and whether veterans have access to other providers who can appropriately meet their needs.

VA Medical and Prosthetics Research

Heinrich successfully secured $878 million for research on Prosthetics and Limb Loss, which is $10 million over the President’s Budget Request. The VA’s Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service is the largest and most comprehensive provider of prosthetic devices and sensory aids in the world. This funding would continue to support the VA’s research to restore veterans’ highest possible level of functioning within their families, communities, and workplaces by providing the most up to date prosthetics.

Neurology Centers of Excellence

Heinrich successfully secured $70 million for neurology Centers of Excellence. Nine million veterans are enrolled in VA care around the nation, including many who suffer from neurologic diseases. Many of these veterans benefit from the unique care of neurology-related Centers of Excellence, which are fully integrated into a VA medical center to better coordinate multidisciplinary care. There are centers around the country, including one in Albuquerque, that focus on Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy, Parkinson's, and Headache Disorders. The bill provides $8.5 million above the President’s Budget Request to build on this work, provides clear funding for all the Centers, and aligns the Epilepsy and Headache centers.

Opioid Prevention and Treatment Programs

Heinrich successfully secured $713 million for opioid prevention and treatment programs. Approximately 1 in 10 veterans suffer from substance use disorder and are not able to access treatment from the VA. The legislation directs the VA to expand training and education for providers on the use of FDA-approved medication assisted treatments for substance use disorder, as well as ensure veterans are able to access these medications in impatient and emergency settings.

Child Care for Assistance

Heinrich successfully secured a provision directing the VA to expeditiously publish regulations and provide quarterly updates to Congress on child care programs for veterans receiving care at VA medical facilities, and to inform veterans of these services.

Board of Veterans Appeals

In November 2023, it was reported that the VA Court of Appeals had a backlog of over 72,000 hearings for pending veteran claims. This backlog has directly affected New Mexican veterans from getting their VA benefits.

Heinrich successfully secured language in the bill acknowledging this issue and directing the VA to provide a report to Congress about its plans to eliminate the backlog within 90 days of final passage.

Access to Reproductive Health

Heinrich filed an amendment to the FY25 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill to codify the VA’s rule protecting veterans and their beneficiaries’ access to abortions in the cases of rape, incest, or danger to the life and health of the mother. Unfortunately, this amendment was not ultimately included in the Committee-passed bill.