On March 9, 2023, the Biden Administration submitted the FY2024 President's Budget Request (PBR) seeking $16.675 billion for U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) military construction (MILCON) and family housing programs. The request was $2.325 billion (12%) less than the $19.000 billion provided for such programs in the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023 (Division J of P.L. 117-328). The House-passed version of the legislation for FY2024 (H.R. 4366) proposed appropriating $799 million (4.8%) more than the requested amount. The Senate Appropriations Committee-reported version of the legislation (S. 2127) recommended $2.395 billion (14.4%) more than the requested amount. On March 9, 2024, President Biden signed P.L. 118-42, which provided $18.675 billion for the FY2024 MILCON and family housing programs, 12% above the requested amount (Table 1). Explanatory materials and bill funding tables for Division A, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations (MILCON-VA) Act are contained in the March 5, 2024 Congressional Record.
A list of selected projects funded in the legislation is included in Table 2.
The FY2024 MILCON-VA appropriations act included 11 projects that were incrementally funded (i.e., Congress provided a portion of the requested amount for a particular project). By incrementally funding certain projects, Congress allows DOD to initiate the construction project but DOD will likely have to request additional funding in a future budget cycle to complete the project. In July 2023, the Biden Administration cited opposition to the House-passed version of the MILCON-VA bill because it proposed funding 24 projects incrementally.
The act appropriated funding for 143 MILCON projects that were not included in the President's budget request but were listed as Community Project Funding or Congressionally Directed Spending items. Appropriations for those projects totaled about $1.565 billion.
Table 1. Military Construction Appropriation Legislation for FY2024
(in thousands of dollars of budget authority)
|
Account |
FY2023 Enacted |
FY2024 Request |
FY2024 Enacted |
||
|
Military Construction, Army |
$1,553,825 |
$1,470,555 |
$1,517,455 |
$1,876,875 |
$2,022,775 |
|
Military Construction, Navy & Marine |
$4,345,320 |
$6,022,187 |
$4,477,961 |
$6,046,309 |
$5,531,369 |
|
Military Construction, Air Force |
$2,614,996 |
$2,605,314 |
$2,439,614 |
$2,802,942 |
$2,741,424 |
|
Military Construction, Defense-wide |
$2,626,078 |
$2,984,682 |
$2,651,047 |
$3,132,782 |
$3,161,782 |
|
Military Construction, Army National Guard |
$459,018 |
$340,186 |
$369,261 |
$598,572 |
$620,647 |
|
Military Construction, Army Reserve |
$193,878 |
$107,076 |
$117,076 |
$151,076 |
$151,076 |
|
Military Construction, Navy & Marine Reserve |
$36,837 |
$51,291 |
$61,291 |
$51,291 |
$51,291 |
|
Military Construction, Air National Guard |
$279,353 |
$178,722 |
$189,322 |
$304,426 |
$295,526 |
|
Military Construction, Air Force Reserve |
$85,423 |
$291,572 |
$330,572 |
$309,572 |
$331,572 |
|
NATO Security Investment Program |
$220,139 |
$293,434 |
$293,434 |
$293,434 |
$293,434 |
|
Base Realignment and Closure |
$574,687 |
$389,174 |
$539,174 |
$439,174 |
$489,174 |
|
Subtotal, Military Construction |
$12,989,554 |
$14,734,193 |
$12,986,207 |
$16,006,435 |
$15,690,070 |
|
Subtotal, Family Housing |
$1,986,330 |
$1,940,751 |
$1,970,751 |
$1,940,751 |
$1,970,751 |
|
Subtotal, Administrative Provisions |
$4,024,116 |
$0 |
$2,517,042 |
$1,122,814 |
$1,014,179 |
|
Total, Military Construction |
$19,000,000 |
$16,674,944 |
$17,474,000 |
$19,070,000 |
$18,675,000 |
Sources: H.Rept. 118-122, pp. 96-100; S.Rept. 118-43, pp. 106-109, P.L. 118-42.
Note: Family Housing budget numbers include Family Housing Construction, the Family Housing Operation & Maintenance, Family Housing Improvement Fund (FHIF), and the Unaccompanied Housing Improvement Fund (UHIF).
Selected Funding Items
In Section 124, the appropriations act provided $514.1 million for additional construction funds for projects listed on DOD's FY2024 unfunded priorities lists.
The appropriations included $662.4 million for planning and design and construction of new barracks facilities, also known as unaccompanied housing. That includes Section 132, in which Congress appropriated $15 million for each of the three military departments for planning and design for new barracks facilities. The joint explanatory statement that accompanied the enacted law directs each of the services to provide the defense committees with a report for how the services intend to address poor condition of barracks facilities that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified in a report released in September 2023 (GAO–23–105797).
The appropriations included $336.3 million to support Child Development Centers (CDCs), which provided $276.8 million for construction of six new CDCs and $59.5 million in planning and design funding to help develop future construction.
The appropriations act included $69 million for planning and design and $62 million in unspecified minor construction for projects as identified on INDOPACOM's unfunded priorities list.
Table 2. Selected Military Construction Projects Funded by P.L. 118-42
(in thousands of dollars of budget authority)
|
Location |
Project Title |
Requested Amount |
P.L. 118-42 |
|
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, HI |
Dry Dock 3 Replacement (Inc) |
$1,318,711 |
$1,318,711 |
|
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, ME |
Multi-Mission Drydock #1 Extension (Inc) |
$544,808 |
$544,808 |
|
Fort Meade, MD |
NSAW Recap Building 4 (Inc) |
$315,000 |
$315,000 |
|
Joint Region Marianas, GU |
PDI: Joint Communication Upgrade (Inc) |
$292,830 |
$146,415 |
|
Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, VA |
Weapons Magazines |
$221,920 |
$110, 960 |
|
Naval Submarine Base New London, CT |
Weapons Magazine & Ordnance Operations Facility |
$219,200 |
$109,600 |
|
March Air Reserve Base, CA |
KC-46 Two Bay Maintenance/Fuel Hangar |
$201,000 |
$201,000 |
|
Naval Base Kitsap, WA |
Shipyard Electrical Backbone |
$195,000 |
$195,000 |
|
Fort Meade, MD |
Cybersecurity Operations Facility |
$186,480 |
$186,480 |
|
Fort Belvoir, VA |
DIA Headquarters Annex |
$185,000 |
$185,000 |
|
Guam/Joint Region Marianas, GU |
Missile Integration Test Facility |
$174,540 |
$87,270 |
|
Ellsworth Air Force Base, SD |
B-21 Phase Hanger |
$160,000 |
$160,000 |
|
Marine Barracks Washington, DC |
Bachelor Enlisted Quarters |
$131,800 |
$65,900 |
|
Naval Station Norfolk, VA |
MQ-25 Aircraft Laydown Facilities |
$114,495 |
$57,248 |
|
Port Hueneme, CA |
Laboratory Compound Facilities Improvement |
$110,000 |
$110,000 |
|
Port Hueneme, CA |
Laboratory Compound Facilities Improvement |
$110,000 |
$110,000 |
|
Marine Corps Base, HI |
Water Reclamation Facility Upgrade |
$0 |
$109,000 |
|
Fort Jackson, SC |
Reception Barracks Complex, Phase 2, Cost to Complete |
$0 |
$101,000 |
|
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, HI |
Dry Dock Replacement |
$0 |
$90,000 |
|
Lexington Armory, NY |
National Guard Readiness Center addition/alteration |
$0 |
$90,000 |
|
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, HI |
Waterfront Production Facility (planning and design) |
$0 |
$49,080 |
|
Fort Novosel, AL |
Adv. Individual Training Barracks Complex (Cost to Complete) |
$0 |
$41,200 |
|
Fort Hunter Liggett, CA |
Network Enterprise Center |
$0 |
$40,000 |
Source: FY2024 Enacted from P.L. 118-47 and Senate, Congressional Record, Daily Edition, Vol. 170, no. 39, part II (March 5, 2024), p. S1246-S1263.
Notes: Projects listed in this table were selected based on a CRS longitudinal analysis of the president's budget request for FY2024, and the House- and Senate-passed drafts of the FY2024 MILCON-VA bills and P.L. 118-47. In a previous CRS Insight about the House- and Senate-passed drafts of the FY2024 MILCON-VA bills, CRS compiled three lists of projects: (1) the 10 largest MILCON projects (by dollar value) that were included in the PBR; (2) the 10 MILCON projects in the House-passed bill that showed the largest proposed change in funding (by dollar value) compared to the president's budget request; and (3) the 10 MILCON projects in the Senate-passed bill that showed the largest proposed change in funding (by dollar value) compared to the president's budget request. The table above includes all of the projects that CRS identified in that analysis of the president's budget request, and the House- and Senate-passed drafts of the FY2024 MILCON-VA bills. Acronyms include NSAW, National Security Agency Washington; PDI, Pacific Deterrence Initiative; and DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency.