WASHINGTON — Leaders in the House of Representatives beat the clock to pass legislation Thursday that would allow construction to continue on the severely over-budget VA hospital in Aurora.
The price tag for the facility has sky-rocketed to $1.73 billion. The VA needs an additional $830 million to finish the project. Work would shut down Sunday without action from Congress, according to a report in the Denver Post.
The Senate still has to approve the plan before week’s end in order to avoid the shut down.
The deal came as a result of last-minute negotiations.
The agreement allows the VA and the contractor building the hospital, Kiewit-Turner, to spend $20 million to keep work going for another three weeks. This stop-gap measure would give Congress and the administration time to come up with a long-term funding plan.