April 2009

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Stimulus Builds Surge in Military Construction

By Brandon Lorenz, Senior Editor

Military construction will also get a boost under the stimulus. Congress dedicated $4.2 billion in spending for military construction. Here are the major non-residential provisions:

• $180 million for Army construction in the U.S. Of the total, $100 million is dedicated to “warrior transition complexes.” The remainder is for child development centers.
• $280 million for construction for the Navy and Marine Corps: $100 million for energy conservation and alternative energy, $100 million for troop housing and $80 million for child development centers.
• $1.45 billion across all defense organizations for domestic construction. $1.33 billion is set aside for hospital construction. The rest is for energy conservation projects.

$50 million each to the Army National Guard and Air National Guard for planning, design and construction projects.

The Veterans Administration gets $1 billion for maintenance and energy efficiency

projects. It also gets $150 million in grants for states to build, buy, or remodel hospitals and nursing homes for veterans.

The Defense Department and Veteran’s Administration must present spending plans to Congress 30 days after the enactment of the stimulus. Once finalized, the plans should be available online at www.defenselink.mil/recovery/ and www.va.gov/recovery.