Apr 2, 6:37 PM EDT


VA announces stimulus spending

By KIMBERLY HEFLING
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Veterans Affairs Department said Thursday it will issue a one-time payment of $250 to qualifying veterans as part of its stimulus spending.

Altogether, the VA said it will spend more than $1.4 billion in stimulus money as part of President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan.

Some of the money will go to hire and train 1,500 temporary claims processors to help reduce a six-month backlog in disability claims, but a large amount will go to upgrade veterans hospitals and cemeteries across the country.

The $250 payments will be issued as early as June. To be eligible, a veteran must have received a qualifying compensation between November of last year and January. It is estimated that $700 million will be spent on the payments.

The approximate $1 billion in construction projects range from $550,000 to relocate a sleep lab in Northport, N.Y., to $1.1 million to replace roads and gutters in a facility in Battle Creek, Mich.

About $50 million will go to improve veterans cemeteries, with projects ranging from about $9,000 for a lawn tractor for Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Pennsylvania to $28,500 for a casket carrier in Black Hills, S.D.


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End of Associated Press Release