US House passes $1.4 trillion spending bill

(December 17,  2019) US lawmakers have agreed to add on $24.7 billion to a $1.4 trillion spending compromise package. They hope the extra funds will be sufficient to pass the spending bills ahead of a Friday deadline.

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Spending bill has faced problems

Passing the compromise spending has been a struggle for months, with officials constantly agreeing on continuing resolutions for more time to negotiate. Ultimately, they appear to have decided that they can get the votes by adding spending here and there, even if this means the deal is much larger than anticipated.

The bill provides $1.375 billion for border barriers. This is the same amount as in last year's bill even though Trump had wanted $3.6 billion for his wall. He also wanted $3.6 billion extra to makeup for his transfer of military funds to be used for the wall. There are similar restrictions on the specifications and locations of barriers as in last year's bill.

Nita Lowey the chair of the chair of the US House Appropriations Committee said: "I'm pleased that we have reached a bipartisan agreement that will keep government open, provide the certainty of full-year funding and make strong investments in key priorities for American communities.With higher spending levels in line with the bipartisan budget agreement, we are scaling up funding for priorities that will make our country safer and stronger and help hardworking families get ahead."

A recent article notes:"The 12 spending bills, which must be signed into law before midnight on Friday to avert a shutdown, also included a slew of new provisions Democrats and Republicans had battled over for months." The packages provide $7.6 billion for the 2020 Census.

First spending package should pass Senate on Tuesday

The first set of spending, including military spending, is at $860.3 billion. It is expected to move through the House Tuesday, and then the Senate shortly thereafter. The other bill would be considered after the first one. While the increase spending will avoid any substantial change to the spending package the huge spending will put the deficit on track to be over $1 trillion for the first time since back in 2012.

A number of other significant bills have been attached to the spending packages. One bill will raise the legal age for buying tobacco to 21. Several taxes associated with Obamacare are eliminated. The Export-Import Bank is reauthorized.

Previously published in the Digital Journal