Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., along with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., announced Tuesday that bipartisan legislation they backed to allow local communities to assist with the planning and construction of Department of Veterans Affairs health care facilities has been signed into law by the president.

The CHIP In for Vets Act authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to let local communities manage the construction of VA projects, contribute the remaining finances, and ensure projects are completed on-time and on-budget. The legislation will also set up a pilot program to test this new model of construction with five initial projects.

“The CHIP In for Vets Act is a win for veterans, especially those in rural America depending on VA facilities for their health care,” Walz said in a statement. “This groundbreaking and innovative way to fund facilities will serve as a framework for how public-private partnerships can help the VA complete projects in a timely and fiscally responsible fashion.”

Rep. Walz is the highest-ranking enlisted soldier to serve in Congress. He serves on the House Veterans Affairs Committee and has made honoring our commitments to those who have served this nation in uniform his top priority in Congress, he said in the statement.

Klobuchar has worked in a bipartisan manner to modernize G.I. Bill benefits for troops and to strengthen funding veterans’ health care. Last month, the No Veterans Crisis Line Call Should Go Unanswered Act, bipartisan legislation she led with Senator John Thune, R-S.D., to improve the Veteran Suicide Crisis Line was signed into law.

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