Yesterday the House of Representatives approved of a $1.4 trillion spending deal.
Some important features of the bill are:
- Raising the age to purchase tobacco-based products to 21
- $1.37 Billion in funding for the border wall
- Department of Defense Budget increase to $738 billion from last year’s budget of $716 billion
- A 3.1% salary increase to Federal Employees
- Federal employees to be given 12 weeks of paid parental leave
- The Creation of a new U.S. military branch called the “Space Force”
- $7.6 billion to conduct next year’s census
- $25 million allocated to research gun violence
- $425 million in funding for election security grants to help states fight election tampering, hacking, and fraud
- Raising the Child Care and Development Block Grant program to $5.8 billion from $5.3 billion. The program helps offset the costs of child care for low-income families.
- A $550 million increase in the Head Start program
- $1.5 billion to help states fight the the opioid crisis
- An extension of the $1-per-gallon biodiesel blenders tax credit which lapsed after 2017
- The Reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank
- Medicaid funding extended to US territories including Puerto Rico
The bill now heads to the Senate where it is expected to pass before the end of the week. If the bill passes it will keep the government funded until the end of September 2020. Everyone in the House and Senate is hoping to avoid a repeat of what happened last year when the longest shutdown in US history occurred.
