H.R. 217 would expand and extend a program that authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to accept donations of real property and improvements from nonfederal entities. Under the bill, VA also would be authorized to accept donations of minor construction and nonrecurring maintenance projects to support the development and upkeep of VA medical facilities. Because those in-kind donations are property rather than monetary contributions, they are not reflected in the federal budget. Additionally, the bill would extend the program, which expires in December 2026, by five years.
VA is authorized to accept real property donations and in-kind support through other authorities, including enhanced-use leases, which have sometimes resulted in implicit or explicit commitments to make future payments. Those arrangements, when they rely on future appropriations, constitute contract authority and are classified as direct spending.
The authority for the program includes restrictions that may prevent VA from making such commitments. Based on VA’s implementation of the program to date, CBO expects the department is unlikely to enter arrangements that would create future obligations or result in significant costs. Thus, CBO estimates that enacting this bill would increase direct spending by an insignificant amount.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Noah Callahan. The estimate was reviewed by Christina Hawley Anthony, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
