House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey (D-NY) today released the text of an omnibus spending bill consisting of all 12 fiscal year 2021 appropriations bills, coronavirus relief, and authorizations. The legislation, a product of bipartisan, bicameral negotiations, is expected to be considered in the House today.
“As I prepare to depart the House after 32 years of service, I could not be more pleased that we are concluding this Congress with a bipartisan agreement to provide the certainty of full-year funding for all of government and urgently-needed coronavirus relief to save lives and livelihoods,” said Chairwoman Lowey. “Because of the leadership of Congressional Democrats, this spending agreement contains funding increases for critical priorities and strong emergency relief to crush the virus and put more money in people’s pockets. I know that Democrats will continue to build on this initial step to bring this crisis to an end, make our country safer and stronger, and give more people a better chance at a better life.”
The more than $1.4 trillion fiscal year 2021 appropriations omnibus furthers House Democrats’ commitment to investing For The People with substantial increases to non-defense spending alongside small increases for defense-related programs.
The appropriations provisions make strong investments to provide pathways to better schools, expand access to housing, and tackle food insecurity. They also invest in safe and stable communities with robust funding for local preparedness grants and research into our nation’s gun violence epidemic, expand access for rural communities through investments in broadband, and provide strong funding to protect the environment and combat climate change.
In addition to the fiscal year 2021 appropriations bills, the spending package contains $900 billion in emergency coronavirus relief to protect the lives and livelihoods of the American people. Among its provisions, the bill provides:
- Billions in urgently need funds to accelerate the free and equitable distribution of safe vaccines to crush the virus;
- $13 billion in increased SNAP and child nutrition benefits to help relieve the COVID hunger crisis;
- A new round of direct payments worth up to $600 per adult and child;
- A $300 per week UI enhancement for Americans out of work;
- $82 billion in funding for colleges and schools and $10 billion for child care assistance to help get parents back to work and keep child care providers open; and
- An additional $3.36 billion for a total of $4 billion for GAVI, the international vaccine alliance, recognizing that we are not truly safe until the whole world is safe from the coronavirus.
The text of the spending package, H.R. 133, is available here. The joint explanatory statement for Front Matter is here, Division A here, Division B here, Division C here, Division D here, Division E here, Division F here, Division G here, Division H here, Division I here, Division J here, Division K here, and Division L here.
A division-by-division summary of the appropriations provisions is here. A division-by-division summary of the coronavirus relief provisions is here. A division-by-division of the authorizing matters is here.
One-page fact sheets on critical Democratic priorities included among the appropriations provisions, the coronavirus relief provisions, and the authorizing matters are here, here, and here respectively.
Original source can be found here.
