II
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 2174
To amend title 38, United States Code, to adjust the threshold amount
for minor medical facility construction projects of the Department of
Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JUNE22, 2023
Mr. T
ESTER(for himself, Mr. MORAN, Mr. REED, Mr. ROUNDS, and Mr.
H
OEVEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to adjust the thresh-
old amount for minor medical facility construction
projects of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for
other purposes.
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 ‘‘Department of Vet-4
erans Affairs Minor Construction Threshold Adjustment 5
Act of 2023’’. 6
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SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF THRESHOLD AMOUNT FOR MINOR 1
MEDICAL FACILITY PROJECTS OF DEPART-2
MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 3
Section 8104(a) of title 38, United States Code, is 4
amended— 5
(1) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 6
‘‘$20,000,000’’ each place it appears and inserting 7
‘‘the amount specified in paragraph (4)’’; and 8
(2) by adding at the end the following new 9
paragraph: 10
‘‘(4)(A) The amount specified in this paragraph is 11
$30,000,000, as adjusted pursuant to this paragraph. 12
‘‘(B)(i) The Secretary shall develop, through regula-13
tions, a mechanism to adjust the amount under subpara-14
graph (A) to account for relevant factors relating to con-15
struction, cost of land, real estate, economic conditions, 16
labor conditions, inflation, and other relevant factors the 17
Secretary considers necessary to ensure such amount 18
keeps pace with all economic conditions that impact the 19
price of construction projects, to include planning, man-20
agement, and delivery of the project. 21
‘‘(ii) In developing the mechanism under clause (i), 22
the Secretary may— 23
‘‘(I) use a mechanism or index already relied 24
upon by the Department for other relevant pro-25
grams, a mechanism or index used by another Fed-26
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eral agency, or a commercial mechanism or index if 1
such mechanism or index satisfactorily addresses the 2
intent of this subparagraph; or 3
‘‘(II) create a new mechanism or index if the 4
Secretary considers it appropriate and necessary to 5
do so. 6
‘‘(C)(i) Not less frequently than once every two years, 7
the Secretary shall— 8
‘‘(I) adjust the amount under subparagraph 9
(A); or 10
‘‘(II) publish a notice in the Federal Register 11
indicating that no adjustment is warranted. 12
‘‘(ii) Not later than 30 days before adjusting an 13
amount pursuant to clause (i)(I) or publishing a notice 14
pursuant to clause (i)(II), the Secretary shall notify the 15
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Committee on Ap-16
propriations of the Senate and the Committee on Vet-17
erans’ Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the 18
House of Representatives. 19
‘‘(D) The Secretary shall determine a logical schedule 20
for adjustments under this paragraph to take effect so 21
that the amounts for and types of construction projects 22
requested by the Department in the budget of the Presi-23
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dent under section 1105(a) of title 31 are consistent with 1
the threshold for construction projects as so adjusted.’’. 2
Æ
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