| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 2174 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to adjust the threshold amount |
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| 6 | 6 | | for minor medical facility construction projects of the Department of |
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| 7 | 7 | | Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 9 | 9 | | JUNE22, 2023 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. T |
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| 11 | 11 | | ESTER(for himself, Mr. MORAN, Mr. REED, Mr. ROUNDS, and Mr. |
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| 12 | 12 | | H |
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| 13 | 13 | | OEVEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred |
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| 14 | 14 | | to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs |
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| 15 | 15 | | A BILL |
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| 16 | 16 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to adjust the thresh- |
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| 17 | 17 | | old amount for minor medical facility construction |
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| 18 | 18 | | projects of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for |
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| 19 | 19 | | other purposes. |
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| 20 | 20 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 21 | 21 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 23 | 23 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Vet-4 |
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| 24 | 24 | | erans Affairs Minor Construction Threshold Adjustment 5 |
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| 25 | 25 | | Act of 2023’’. 6 |
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| 26 | 26 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Jul 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2174.IS S2174 |
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| 27 | 27 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 28 | 28 | | •S 2174 IS |
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| 29 | 29 | | SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF THRESHOLD AMOUNT FOR MINOR 1 |
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| 30 | 30 | | MEDICAL FACILITY PROJECTS OF DEPART-2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | Section 8104(a) of title 38, United States Code, is 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | amended— 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (1) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | ‘‘$20,000,000’’ each place it appears and inserting 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | ‘‘the amount specified in paragraph (4)’’; and 8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (2) by adding at the end the following new 9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | paragraph: 10 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ‘‘(4)(A) The amount specified in this paragraph is 11 |
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| 40 | 40 | | $30,000,000, as adjusted pursuant to this paragraph. 12 |
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| 41 | 41 | | ‘‘(B)(i) The Secretary shall develop, through regula-13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | tions, a mechanism to adjust the amount under subpara-14 |
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| 43 | 43 | | graph (A) to account for relevant factors relating to con-15 |
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| 44 | 44 | | struction, cost of land, real estate, economic conditions, 16 |
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| 45 | 45 | | labor conditions, inflation, and other relevant factors the 17 |
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| 46 | 46 | | Secretary considers necessary to ensure such amount 18 |
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| 47 | 47 | | keeps pace with all economic conditions that impact the 19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | price of construction projects, to include planning, man-20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | agement, and delivery of the project. 21 |
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| 50 | 50 | | ‘‘(ii) In developing the mechanism under clause (i), 22 |
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| 51 | 51 | | the Secretary may— 23 |
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| 52 | 52 | | ‘‘(I) use a mechanism or index already relied 24 |
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| 53 | 53 | | upon by the Department for other relevant pro-25 |
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| 54 | 54 | | grams, a mechanism or index used by another Fed-26 |
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| 55 | 55 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Jul 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2174.IS S2174 |
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| 56 | 56 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 57 | 57 | | •S 2174 IS |
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| 58 | 58 | | eral agency, or a commercial mechanism or index if 1 |
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| 59 | 59 | | such mechanism or index satisfactorily addresses the 2 |
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| 60 | 60 | | intent of this subparagraph; or 3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | ‘‘(II) create a new mechanism or index if the 4 |
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| 62 | 62 | | Secretary considers it appropriate and necessary to 5 |
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| 63 | 63 | | do so. 6 |
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| 64 | 64 | | ‘‘(C)(i) Not less frequently than once every two years, 7 |
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| 65 | 65 | | the Secretary shall— 8 |
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| 66 | 66 | | ‘‘(I) adjust the amount under subparagraph 9 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (A); or 10 |
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| 68 | 68 | | ‘‘(II) publish a notice in the Federal Register 11 |
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| 69 | 69 | | indicating that no adjustment is warranted. 12 |
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| 70 | 70 | | ‘‘(ii) Not later than 30 days before adjusting an 13 |
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| 71 | 71 | | amount pursuant to clause (i)(I) or publishing a notice 14 |
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| 72 | 72 | | pursuant to clause (i)(II), the Secretary shall notify the 15 |
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| 73 | 73 | | Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Committee on Ap-16 |
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| 74 | 74 | | propriations of the Senate and the Committee on Vet-17 |
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| 75 | 75 | | erans’ Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the 18 |
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| 76 | 76 | | House of Representatives. 19 |
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| 77 | 77 | | ‘‘(D) The Secretary shall determine a logical schedule 20 |
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| 78 | 78 | | for adjustments under this paragraph to take effect so 21 |
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| 79 | 79 | | that the amounts for and types of construction projects 22 |
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| 80 | 80 | | requested by the Department in the budget of the Presi-23 |
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| 81 | 81 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Jul 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2174.IS S2174 |
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| 82 | 82 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 |
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| 83 | 83 | | •S 2174 IS |
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| 84 | 84 | | dent under section 1105(a) of title 31 are consistent with 1 |
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| 85 | 85 | | the threshold for construction projects as so adjusted.’’. 2 |
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| 86 | 86 | | Æ |
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| 87 | 87 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Jul 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2174.IS S2174 |
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| 88 | 88 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS |
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