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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Introduced October 8, 2025 by Jerry Moran · Last progress October 8, 2025
Consolidates and centralizes how the Department of Veterans Affairs plans, designs, constructs, leases, maintains, and acquires facilities and related services. The bill moves facility-construction and leasing staff under a single Director of Construction and Facilities Management, centralizes acquisition functions under the Chief Acquisition Officer, and requires a range of reports, pilots, and studies to test new leasing, donation, and building-code authorities. Also expands options for partnerships and financing by permitting enhanced-use leases with noncash elements (subject to a limited pilot), accepting donations for minor construction and maintenance, using commercial building codes in pilot projects, and allowing the VA to contract full project teams for construction management — while preserving the rule that no obligations may be incurred without congressional appropriations and adding oversight and reporting requirements to Congress and OMB.
Amend Section 312A of title 38, United States Code: in subsection (a)(4), insert after "; and".
Add a new subsection (d) titled "Supervision of employees" to Section 312A, establishing supervisory rules for certain employees.
All VA employees engaged in planning, design, and construction of Department facilities and infrastructure (including major and minor medical facility projects) must report to the Director of Construction and Facilities Management.
All VA employees developing and updating short-range and long-range strategic capital investment strategies and plans must report to the Director of Construction and Facilities Management.
All VA employees involved in leasing of real property by the Department (including short-term, long-term, major medical facility leases, and minor medical facility leases) must report to the Director of Construction and Facilities Management.
Primary impacts fall on VA operations, the VA workforce, veterans who use VA facilities, and private-sector partners. Centralizing construction, leasing, and acquisition aims to improve coordination, reduce duplication, and create clearer lines of authority; this could speed project delivery and standardize procurement practices. Effects on VA employees include changes to reporting lines and regional alignment that may alter daily responsibilities and require workforce planning, training, or reclassification for 1102 acquisition roles. Veterans and local communities may see faster facility upgrades, new leasing arrangements, or repurposing of properties, but some changes (like outleasing or donations) could shift where services are delivered, requiring careful local planning. The pilots for commercial building codes and noncash enhanced-use leases open new flexibility for partners and private developers but introduce fiscal and oversight risks; OMB review and required reporting are intended to mitigate those risks. Private contractors, construction managers, and affiliated hospitals or universities could gain new business opportunities (full project teams, common services agreements, donations, in-kind partnerships), while entities seeking to partner with VA should expect tighter financial and operational review. The statutory prohibition on obligating funds without appropriation preserves Congressional control over spending, so practical effects depend on subsequent appropriations and implementation decisions by VA leadership.
Strikes paragraphs (2) through (6) of 38 U.S.C. 8162(b) and inserts new paragraphs establishing rules for enhanced-use leases regarding required consideration (cash at fair value except for exchanges of similar value), allowing leases without consideration, prohibiting waiver or postponement of lessee payment obligations (including monthly rent), permitting use of minor construction funds for capital contribution payments, and requiring OMB review prior to the lease taking effect.
Permits amounts in the Department of Veterans Affairs Capital Asset Fund to be used for enhanced-use leases under the pilot program for the purposes of subparagraph (C) of 38 U.S.C. 8118(b)(3) without reference to the amount limitation in 38 U.S.C. 8104(a)(3)(A), subject to the availability of appropriations.
Referenced as the amount limitation from which the Capital Asset Fund use is excepted for the pilot program (see relation to 38 U.S.C. 8118(b)(3)).
Defines the term 'enhanced-use lease' for purposes of this section by reference to 38 U.S.C. 8162(a)(1).
Amends the pilot program provisions (section 2 of the Communities Helping Invest through Property and Improvements Needed for Veterans Act of 2016, as reflected at 38 U.S.C. 8103) to: (1) add authority to accept as a donation a minor construction or nonrecurring maintenance project of the Department of Veterans Affairs; (2) make conforming wording changes replacing references to 'real property and improvements donated' and similar phrases with 'donation' or 'donations'; and (3) extend the pilot program expiration date from December 16, 2026 to December 16, 2031.
Amends section 8153 of title 38: (1) in subsection (a)(3) inserts material into subparagraph (A) and subparagraph (B)(i); strikes former subparagraph (E); redesignates former subparagraphs (C) and (D) as (D) and (E); inserts a new subparagraph (C) authorizing the Secretary to acquire physical space or common services from an institution affiliated with the Department or another entity by contract, resource‑sharing agreement, space‑sharing agreement, or other agreement without regard to laws or regulations requiring competitive procedures and, if obligations are funded through available appropriations or borne by the institution or entity, without regard to limitations applicable to Department leases; and updates the redesignated subparagraph (D) to refer to subparagraph (A), (B), or (C). (2) Adds a new subsection (h) defining the terms “commercial service,” “common service,” and “physical space.”
Amends 38 U.S.C. 312A by (1) modifying subsection (a)(4) (inserting after '; and'), and (2) adding subsection (d) 'Supervision of employees' which requires all Department employees engaged in specified facility- and infrastructure-related activities to report to the Director of Construction and Facilities Management, enumerates those activities (planning, design, construction, capital investment planning, leasing, repair/maintenance/operation, procurement/acquisition), and defines the terms 'major medical facility lease', 'major medical facility project' (by reference to 38 U.S.C. 8104(a)(3)), 'minor medical facility project', and 'minor medical facility lease'.
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Introduced in Senate