Last weekend, politicians on Capitol Hill reached an agreement on a $1.07 trillion spending bill to fund the federal government until the end of September, the remainder of this fiscal year. The compromise came just days after Congress voted on a short-term bill to keep the government funded through the end of this week, to allow more time for deliberations.
Here are the most notable inclusions and exclusions in the bill:
‐ $1.5 billion for border security, but also includes language to prevent construction of new sections of the border wall; does not fund any deportation force and it does not cut any federal funding for “sanctuary cities”
‐ $15 billion to fight terrorism, $2.5 billion of which is contingent upon Trump providing Congress with a plan for fighting ISIS
‐ No decrease in federal funding for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider
‐ $2 billion increase in funding for the National Institute of Health
‐ $8.1 billion in emergency funding, including aid for California, Louisiana, North Carolina, and West Virginia, as well as infrastructure grants and money to fight the opioid epidemic
‐ Almost $300 million for Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program
Democrats did not get their wish of funding the Affordable Care Act’s cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments, which subsidize the provision of health care for low-income people. These payments are currently appropriated by the White House, and because President Trump has threatened to end them, Democrats wanted to fund them through the congressional budget bill instead. The White House has agreed to continue the payments for now.
The House Rules Committee will consider the bill tomorrow and will likely send it to the floor for a vote.