Veterans advocacy groups saw several years of work come to fruition last week when President Barack Obama signed a law that provides funding for the Veterans Affairs Department one year in advance.

The Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act aims to protect veterans medical programs from interruptions in funding when Congress is late passing a budget bill — as it has been for 20 of the last 23 years.

Advance funding for medical services, facilities and research programs takes effect with the fiscal 2011 budget, assuming Congress provides promised money in the 2010 budget that also covers those programs for 2011.