VA: Senator Seeks GAO Review of Construction Plan

Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) will ask the Government Accountability Office to do a study of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs multiyear construction program.

“In some cases, VA’s infrastructure reflects yesterday’s priorities,” Akaka said. Since VA’s Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services program began in 2004, nine of its 58 identified projects have been finished, 20 are under construction, 12 are in design and 15 are in planning, Donald Orndorff, director of VA’s construction and facilities management office, told Akaka’s panel on June 10.

As of June 5, VA had obligated only $27 million of its $1.1 billion in economic-stimulus funds for maintenance projects. Officials say VA expects to obligate 40% of the money by Sept. 30.

Pam Hunter McFarland was a Senior Editor of ENR and her expertise was: Sourcebooks, Environment, Labor

Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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