VA Community Infrastructure Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2866 To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into grants or other agreements to assist State and local governments with community infrastructure projects that support medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 21, 2019 Mr. CUNNINGHAM (for himself and Mr. BILIRAKIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into grants or other agreements to assist State and local governments with community infrastructure projects that support medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VA Community Infra- 4 structure Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:37 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2866.IH H2866 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2866 IH SEC. 2. VETERAN COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE PILOT 1 PROGRAM. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Chapter 81 of title 38, 3 United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 4 8117 the following new section: 5 ‘‘§ 8117A. Veteran community infrastructure pilot 6 program 7 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 8 may make grants, conclude cooperative agreements, and 9 supplement funds available under Federal programs ad- 10 ministered by agencies other than the Department of Vet- 11 erans Affairs to assist State and local governments to ad- 12 dress deficiencies in community infrastructure supportive 13 of medical facilities if the Secretary determines that such 14 assistance will enhance the resilience of the medical facil- 15 ity or the quality of life of veterans eligible to receive care 16 at such medical facility. 17 ‘‘(b) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall establish cri- 18 teria for the selection of community infrastructure proj- 19 ects to receive assistance under subsection (a). The cri- 20 teria shall include a preference toward medical facilities 21 in areas with large veteran populations or areas experi- 22 encing high rates of growth in the veteran population. 23 ‘‘(c) FUNDS.—Amounts appropriated or otherwise 24 made available for assistance under subsection (a) may re- 25 main available until expended. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:37 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2866.IH H2866 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2866 IH ‘‘(d) TERMINATION.—The authority under this sec- 1 tion shall terminate on the date that is 10 years after the 2 date of the enactment of this section. 3 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 ‘‘(1) The term ‘community infrastructure’ 5 means any— 6 ‘‘(A) transportation project; 7 ‘‘(B) flood or natural disaster mitigation 8 project; 9 ‘‘(C) hospital, police, fire, emergency re- 10 sponse, or other community support facility; or 11 ‘‘(D) water, waste-water, telecommunica- 12 tions, electric, gas, or other utility infrastruc- 13 ture project that is owned by a State or local 14 government. 15 ‘‘(2) The term ‘medical facility’ has the mean- 16 ing given in section 8101 of this title.’’. 17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 18 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 19 after the item relating to section 8117 the following new 20 item: 21 ‘‘8117A. Veteran community infrastructure pilot program.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:37 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2866.IH H2866 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS