Investments Heinrich championed include childcare assistance, improved telehealth & rural health services, & expanded homelessness prevention programs
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced the bipartisan Senate Appropriations Committee passage of the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. With Committee passage of this bill, Heinrich secured support for over $205 million for New Mexico’s military installations and significant wins for New Mexico’s veterans, including over $32 million in Congressionally Directed Spending for five local projects.
“For our nation’s veterans and military families, this bill keeps our promise: that when they come home, they will receive the recognition, education, housing, and health care that they have earned through their service. It also strengthens New Mexico’s role as a leader in national security and bolsters our local economies," said Heinrich, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This bill will also ensure that our service members are best equipped with state-of-the-art technology and resources to defend freedom at home and abroad. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am committed to doing everything I can to support the heroic Americans who sacrifice so much to keep us safe.”
Heinrich is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the former Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies.
New Mexico Military Construction
Heinrich secured Committee support of investments in seven New Mexico projects.
Heinrich successfully included funds for the following projects:
Heinrich also secured language addressing the ongoing energy infrastructure needs at White Sands Missile Range, ensuring troop readiness and training is prioritized.
Heinrich and U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) also successfully included funding for the following projects:
Support for Veterans
Heinrich secured Committee support for key veteran programs.
Suicide Prevention
Heinrich successfully secured $18,866,195,000 for mental health treatment, including $697,760,000 for suicide prevention outreach. Heinrich also secured language encouraging the VA to use predictive modeling and analytics for veteran suicide prevention in the Recovery Engagement and Coordination for Health-Veterans Enhanced Treatment (REACH VET) program. This innovative solution would identify veterans with evidence-based risk factors for suicidal ideation in order to get help to veterans before a potential mental health crisis.
In 2020, Heinrich voted in favor of the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019 (P.L. 116-171), which supported and authorized the REACH VET program.
Rural Health
Heinrich successfully secured $342,455,000 for the VA’s Office of Rural Health and its Rural Health Initiative to continue supporting veterans with services like transportation to appointments for highly rural veterans, utilization of innovative transportation service technologies, and outreach to highly rural veterans.
An estimated 2.7 million rural and highly rural veterans are enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Many rural veterans enrolled in the VA health care system are at an advanced age, with approximately 54 percent aged 65 or older. With the aging veteran population growing increasingly medically complex and more likely to be diagnosed with chronic conditions like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and heart disease, each requiring more frequent, ongoing, and costly care, these funds would help close the gap and get highly rural veterans the care they need.
Telehealth Services
Heinrich successfully secured $6,356,035,000 to sustain and increase telehealth capacity and expand the reach of VA medical providers to veterans in highly rural areas through the use of in-home telehealth and remote patient monitoring services. The bill also supports the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) rulemaking to eliminate copays for all virtual medical appointments of any type and especially for primary and preventative care appointments.
Preventing Veteran Homelessness
Heinrich successfully secured $3,459,121,000 to prevent veteran homelessness, including $702,821,000 to bolster the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program, which would meet the needs of veterans including help with the rising costs of household goods; $670,900,000 for case management and administration of Housing and Urban Development – Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers; $323,100,000 for the Grant and Per Diem Program, which would support transitional housing and assist veterans in achieving housing stability; and, $139,843,000 for Veterans Justice Outreach and Legal Services for Veterans grants to award community-based organizations with funds to assist veterans with legal issues like accessing benefits, navigating family law, and securing safe and stable housing.
Veterans Affairs Service Purchasing (VASP) Program
Heinrich successfully secured report language directing the VA to explain why it abruptly ended the Veterans Affairs Service Purchasing program, a critical program that would keep veterans who were unable to pay their mortgage in their homes. At least 130 New Mexico veterans could be impacted by this administration’s shortsighted decision to end the Veterans Affairs Service Purchasing program without loss mitigation policies.
Access to Medications for Substance Use Disorder
Heinrich successfully secured $709,573,000 for the Opioid Prevention and Treatment programs at the VA, including $454,086,000 for treatment programs and $254,487,000 to continue implementation of the Jason Simcakoski Memorial and Promise Act. Heinrich voted in favor of this bill’s authorizing legislation, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, in 2016 (P.L. 114-198).
Veteran Family Resource Program
Heinrich successfully secured language to require a status report on the Veteran Family Resource Program rollout, including authorities and funding needed to ensure a successful, continued rollout that reduces rates of child abuse and neglect among families with veterans. Services would include interventions like case management assistance to address evidence-based risk factors like housing and food insecurity in veteran families.
Childcare Assistance
Heinrich successfully secured an additional $3,000,000 in the VA’s overall budget to support the expansion of childcare centers at VA medical facilities through a pilot program. Heinrich originally voted in favor of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-163) while Congressman for New Mexico’s 1stCongressional district. This bill led to the VA’s initial childcare pilot program to assess feasibility and advisability of providing childcare services to veterans receiving mental health and intensive health care services.
As a result, in 2016, the VA launched a childcare pilot program to implement three (3) free, drop-in childcare service centers across three locations in the states of New York and Washington. Survey data indicate nearly a third of veterans are interested in childcare services and approximately 10 percent have had to cancel or reschedule medical appointments due to lack of childcare.
Grants for Construction of State Extended Care Facilities
Heinrich successfully secured $171,000,000 in construction funds for state extended care facilities. In New Mexico, there is only one VA long-term care facility, despite demand for additional capacity and facilities. These facilities are particularly important to ensure aging and disabled veterans receive the appropriate level of care.
Medical and Prosthetics Research
Heinrich successfully secured $943,000,000 to fund medical, rehabilitative, and health services research and support basic and clinical studies that advance knowledge leading to improvements in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and disabilities. Medical and prosthetic research at the Department of Veterans Affairs includes the fields of prosthetics, orthotics, adaptive equipment for vehicles, sensory aids, and related areas.
VA Court of Appeals
Heinrich successful secured language requiring the VA to improve transparency surrounding the large back log of cases at the VA Court of Appeals. According to last year’s Annual Report, there is a backlog of 200,805 cases.
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