(KNOX) – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is giving a $710,000 grant to the North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs. The money will be used to continue providing free transportation services to eligible healthcare facilities for rural veterans.
The Highly Rural Transportation Grants program provides transportation for veterans in 35 rural counties.
Senator Kevin Cramer supports the grant, and he is pushing for a new bill he introduced last year. His Supporting Rural Veterans Access to Healthcare Services Act, would permanently reauthorize funding for the HRTG program.
The bill, which would also include Native American tribes, tribal organizations and Native Hawaiian organizations to also be eligible to receive funding. The Congressional Budget Office says reauthorizing the program would increase program costs to roughly $7 million per year, and a total of $60 million over the next nine years.
The proposed bill would also allow the VA to provide grant recipients funds of up to $80,000 per county, where these recipients funds would be used to purchase vehicles that are compliant with ADA guidelines.
The CBO also believes that funding for vehicles will be provided to 10 percent of the 310 counties around the nation that have a transportation service. This would mean that $2 million grants would be provided annually.
The CBO also says that the bill would authorize another $25,000 grant to organizations that provide services in counties with five or more communities that are in remote areas.
Pending appropriation, Cramer’s revised bill would lead to an overall increase in congressional spending by $44 million, as $16 million would be directly spent.
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!
