Congress unveils long-awaited funding bills ahead of shutdown threat
by Aris Folley - 03/03/24 3:58 PM ET
Congressional leaders on Sunday finally revealed long-awaited bipartisan bills to fund parts of the government for most of the year, setting off a bicameral sprint to avert looming shutdown threat in less than a week.
The weekend rollout entails six full-year spending bills to fund a slew of agencies until early fall, including the departments of Agriculture, Interior, Transportation (DOT), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Veterans Affairs (VA), Justice (DOJ), Commerce and Energy.
The 1,050-page bipartisan package includes more than $450 billion in funding for fiscal year 2024. Lawmakers have until Friday to pass the legislation or risk a partial government shutdown under a stopgap plan President Biden signed into law this week to buy more time for spending talks.
The package sets aside nearly $100 billion for the HUD and DOT funding bill, with Democrats highlighting increases for the Federal Aviation Administration, the Maritime Administration and Homeless Assistance Grants, among other areas.
The bill also includes over $32 billion for tenant-based Section 8 vouchers, up $2.1 billion increase from the previous fiscal year, as members on both sides say more funding is needed to counter rising rents. At the same time, House Republicans say the bill cuts more than $3.2 billion across 19 DOT and HUD grant programs when compared to the previous year’s fiscal levels.
The bill provides more than $135 billion in nondefense discretionary funding for the annual VA and military construction funding measure and more than $172 billion in mandatory funding. The bill also includes funding increases for VA Medical Care, the Benefits Administration, as well as medical and prosthetics research.
The Sunday rollout comes as Congress falls behind in finishing up its funding work for fiscal year 2024, which began five months ago.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4505075-congress-reveals-long-awaited-bills-ahead-of-next-weeks-shutdown-threat/
