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Van Hollen, Alsobrooks Announce Over $670 Million for Maryland Military Installations

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks (both D-Md.) announced $676,800,000 for military installations across Maryland within the fiscal year 2026 Senate Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill – which was enacted into law as part of the government funding agreement passed earlier this month. These projects – funded at the Senators’ request – support infrastructure upgrades for Maryland’s National Guard and at construction projects at U.S. military installations across the state. This legislation also makes important nationwide investments in housing for servicemembers and their families, veterans’ health care, and more.

“Maryland is the proud home to critical military installations as well as hundreds of thousands of servicemembers, civilian employees, and veterans. We fought to secure federal investments in this legislation to advance important military projects across our state, boost health care and other services for our veterans, and more. As the appropriations process for next year moves forward, I will continue to do all I can to ensure our funding bills meet the needs of Maryland, our active-duty servicemembers and veterans, and our nation as a whole,” said Senator Van Hollen, a member of the Appropriations Committee.

“I am proud to announce essential funding for Maryland included in the Fiscal Year 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Funding Bill. This funding includes building a contained burn facility at Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head to support our environmental goals as well as critical funding for veterans, especially those experiencing homelessness in our state. This funding reminds us of our duty to support our veterans, to fight for those in active service, and to maintain and protect the military facilities across our state,” said Senator Alsobrooks.

The Senators worked to secure these funds and provisions, but ultimately voted against the larger package they were included within given its failure to prevent health care costs for millions of Americans from skyrocketing and its lack of safeguards to prevent more lawlessness from the Trump Administration.

Highlights for Maryland in the Fiscal Year 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Funding Bill

Congressionally Directed Spending

Project Name: Contained Burn Facility at Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head
Applicant: Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head
Project Description: Funds will be used to build a contained burn facility at Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head to responsibly dispose of unexploded ordnance, reducing environmental impacts of disposal.
Project Location: Charles County
Amount Included: $18,700,000

Project Name: Edgewood Vehicle Maintenance Shop Design
Applicant: Maryland Army National Guard
Project Description: Funds will be used to design a 40,000 square-foot vehicle maintenance shop in Edgewood, MD to support the military vehicles and other ground equipment of the Maryland Army National Guard.
Project Location: Harford County
Amount Included: $3,250,000

Project Name: Hagerstown Vehicle Maintenance Shop Design
Applicant: Maryland Army National Guard
Project Description: Funds will be used to design a 22,894 square-foot vehicle maintenance shop in Hagerstown, MD to support the military vehicles and other ground equipment of the Maryland Army National Guard .
Project Location: Washington County
Amount Included: $3,250,000

Additional priorities secured by the Senators

  • Funding for critical military construction projects across Maryland, including:
    • $100 million for the Suitland Foreign Materials Exploration Lab
    • $70 million for construction at the Bethesda Naval Hospital
    • $455 million for NSAW East Campus Building #5 construction at Fort Meade
    • $26.6 million for NSAW Venona Road Widening at Fort Meade
  • $3.46 billion for veterans homelessness programs, a $250 million increase over FY25. This funding includes:
    • $659 million for the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program,
    • $276.8 million for the Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program,
    • $702.8 million for case management administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) under the Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program, and
    • $173.7 million for the Veterans Justice Outreach Program and Legal Services for Veterans grants.
  • $275 million for grants for construction of state extended care facilities – this program supports the construction of state-run assisted living and skilled nursing facilities, like the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home and the planned second Veterans home in Sykesville, that offer a continuum of care for our nation’s Veterans.
  • $945 million for VA medical and prosthetics research.
  • $1.9 billion for military family housing construction, operations, and maintenance.
  • $1.4 billion to support gender-specific healthcare services to support the VA in expanding care to all women veterans.