Biden Elected President!

#Title #2 !  Biden Elected President

I’m going to be a mighty king, so enemies beware. Well, I’ve never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair. I’m going to be a mighty king, so enemies beware. Well, I’ve never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair. I’m going to be a mighty king, so enemies beware. Well, I’ve never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair. I’m going to be a mighty king, so enemies beware. Well, I’ve never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair.

#Title #2 !  Biden Elected President

I’m going to be a mighty king, so enemies beware. Well, I’ve never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair. I’m going to be a mighty king, so enemies beware. Well, I’ve never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair. I’m going to be a mighty king, so enemies beware. Well, I’ve never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair. I’m going to be a mighty king, so enemies beware. Well, I’ve never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair.

#Title #3 !!!   Biden Elected President

I’m going to be a mighty king, so enemies beware. Well, I’ve never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair. I’m going to be a mighty king, so enemies beware. Well, I’ve never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair. I’m going to be a mighty king, so enemies beware. Well, I’ve never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair. I’m going to be a mighty king, so enemies beware. Well, I’ve never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair.

Commerce-Justice-Science Section

The Commerce-Justice-Science bill funds the Departments of Commerce and Justice, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other related agencies. The FY21 bill provides $71.12 billion in discretionary funding.

U.S. Department of Commerce

$8.9 billion is included for the Department of Commerce, an increase of $596.7 million above the President’s request.

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)

$33.8 billion is included for the Department of Justice, which is $1.18 billion above the FY20 enacted level.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

$23.27 billion is provided for NASA, an increase of $642.3 million above the FY20 enacted level.

National Science Foundation (NSF)

$8.5 billion, an increase of $208.4 million above the FY20 enacted level and $745.4 million above the President’s budget request is provided to NSF.

Energy & Water Development Section

The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies bill funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Interior programs, the Department of Energy, and other agencies. This bill provides $49.5 billion in funding, which is $1.1 billion above the FY20 enacted level. The Department of Interior/Bureau of Reclamation is funded with $1.69 billion, an increase of $11 million above FY20 level is provided.

Department of Energy

$39.6 billion is provided for the Energy Department, an increase of $1 billion above FY20, which includes:

• $156 million in funding for efforts to secure the nation’s energy infrastructure against all hazards, reduce the risks of and impacts from cybersecurity events, and assist with restoration activities.
• $7.026 billion for the Office of Science to fund basic science research in physics, biology, chemistry, and other science disciplines to expand scientific understanding and secure the nation’s global leadership in energy innovation.

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Interior-Environment Section

The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill includes funding for programs within the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Indian Health Service and other related agencies. In total, the FY21 bill includes $36.107 billion, an increase of $118 million over the FY20 level. The Department of the Interior (DOI) is provided with $13.7 billion in funding for FY21 and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is provided with $9.24 billion, $180 million above the FY20 enacted level and $2.53 billion above the President’s budget request.

Transportation-Housing & Urban Development Section

The bill provides $136.8 billion, $1.2 billion above the FY20 enacted level and $11.4 billion above the President’s budget request for these federal programs. HUD is provided with a total of $49.6 billion for HUD, $561 million more than FY20 enacted level. It includes $25 billion in emergency rental assistance and an extension of the CDC’s federal eviction moratorium through January 31, among other things.

Department of Transportation (DOT)

The bill provides $86.7 billion in total for DOT, $553 million above the FY20 enacted level. Of this amount, the bill includes:

• $1 billion for National Infrastructure Investments (TIGER/BUILD)
• $3 million to continue the Highly Automated Systems Safety Center of Excellence
• $2 billion for Capital Investment Grants
• $516 million for Transit Infrastructure Grants
• $2 million for the deployment of magnetic levitation transportation projects, to remain available until expended – far below the $150 million included in the House-passed version

FY2021 Omnibus

On November 17, Republican senators released 12 bills to fund the government through September 2021, the first move toward negotiations with House Democrats, who passed their 12 bills during the summer. While Ranking Appropriations Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) highlighted several objections to the Republicans’ proposals, which differ greatly from the House-passed versions, the two parties were able to clinch a deal on November 25 on top line funding levels for a total package of $1.4 trillion. The agreed funding plan establishes overall totals for 12 appropriations bills that will be rolled into one massive omnibus bill that would boost federal budgets for the rest of FY2021, which ends on September 30 next year. Negotiators will keep the specific funding levels for agencies and programs — known as 302(b)s — under wraps until the detailed bipartisan, bicameral omnibus is finalized. Some issues to resolve range from NIH allocations as the House version includes shrewd legislative drafting that establishes an emergency health funding account similar to the military’s Overseas Contingency Operations that has helped the DoD circumvent funding constraints since the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. It enables a total of $235 billion increase for NIH and CDC tied to COVID that avoids the Budget Control Act caps, however the Senate version does not include this account and has lower funding. Another difference is the Senate funds the EPA with less funding than the House version in the Interior bill and includes funding for the border wall in the Homeland Security bill, a lingering sticking point that could shut down the entire process as it has done before. Within Defense, the Senate version totals $698 billion and prioritizes F-35 jets and within the Transportation bill, the emergency infrastructure funding in the House is excluded in the Senate version. However, there is some agreed prioritization as both the House and Senate support $12.5 billion for the VA MISSION Act in their Military Construction-Veterans Affairs bills and a boost for nutrition relief in the Agriculture-FDA appropriations bills. Because the House bills passed that chamber, the House can negotiate with a stronger hand. As details are hammered out, we will keep track and share updates.

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COVID Package

Majority Leader McConnell is backing Secretary Mnuchin’s proposal to use $580 billion that was allocated for Federal Reserve loan guarantees, small business aid and other virus relief programs that is unspent for targeted relief measures. One challenge is the reclaimed Federal Reserve funds are loans, not grants, and cannot be tapped for other programs under congressional budget scoring conventions. The Congressional Budget Office assumes that loans will be repaid, so there are no measurable savings from not offering the loans. Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) and Democratic leadership oppose this proposal.