Congress Near Another Short-Term Deal On Denver VA Hospital
DENVER (AP) — Congress is working on another short-term deal to avoid a construction shut-down on an over-budget veterans hospital in Aurora.
The Senate approved a measure Thursday to raise the spending cap by $150 million, allowing work to continue until about November. The House would still have to agree.
The project could hit its current cap of $900 million in the next few days. If that happened, work would stop.
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The measure allows the VA to shift $150 million from elsewhere in its budget.
This would be the second stop-gap measure. Lawmakers haven't been able to agree on a long-term deal.
The VA is asking for another $625 million to finish. Congress is demanding major changes in the VA before approving it.
The hospital is expected to cost up to $1.73 billion, nearly triple the estimate last year.
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