A number of veterans advocacy groups are calling on the Obama Administration to beef up spending on veterans benefits in 2013.

In his budget proposal released February 13, President Barack Obama calls for $64 billion in discretionary spending for the Department of Veterans Affairs over the 2013 fiscal year. This money would largely be spent on veterans benefits, including healthcare and housing. But while there was much to cheer about in the VA budget proposal, four veterans groups worry that it may not be enough.

The groups - Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, The Veterans of Foreign Wars, and AMVETS - are calling on the president to increase spending by an additional $4 billion. The increased spending would help ensure that the infrastructure of the VA keeps up with a growing demand for medical services, according to the groups. The proposal appears in The Independent Budget, an annual budget proposal compiled by veterans, which was released February 14.

VA operates 152 medical centers and more than 1,400 outpatient clinics, and provides services to roughly 8.3 million veterans each year, according to agency information. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said recently that VA expects roughly 1 million soldiers to begin using veterans benefits over the next year as they return from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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