As deadline nears, Senate approves $674 billion defense budget bill

[George II]

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/2018/09/18/as-deadline-approaches-senate-advances-674-billion-defense-budget-bill/

WASHINGTON — With the fiscal year winding down, Senate lawmakers on Tuesday advanced a multi-agency appropriations deal that would prevent a government shutdown and give the Defense Department its full-year budget on schedule for the first time in a decade.

The measure, which provides for more than $606 billion in base defense spending and nearly $68 billion more in overseas contingency funds, is in line with White House requests and spending targets outlined in the annual defense authorization bill approved earlier this summer.

“After subjecting America's all-volunteer armed forces to years of belt tightening, this legislation will build on our recent progress in rebuilding the readiness of our military and investing more in the men and women who wear the uniform,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said before the Senate vote.

The funding total — approved by a 93-7 vote — amounts to an increase of more than 3 percent for military spending in fiscal 2019, but as important as the boost is the timing of the measure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are the seven Senators who voted Nay:

Nay R Flake, Jeff AZ
Nay R Perdue, David GA
Nay R Paul, Rand KY
Nay R Sasse, Benjamin NE
Nay R Toomey, Pat PA
Nay R Lee, Mike UT
Nay I Sanders, Bernie VT

[ehrnst]

1. Defense health and military family programs would receive $34.4 billion.

I am not a fan of increasing military spending, but health and family programs are underfunded at this point.

And this was good strategy by Democrats:

In order to avoid political fights over non-defense spending levels, lawmakers agreed to package the military budget bill with the full-year funding for the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Education.

[GeorgeGist]

2. JFC. /nt

[jalan48]

3. The Defense Dept. is a sacred cow. Few will vote against the obscene amount of money

going to it. Money which could be used to fund much needed social and infrastructure programs. Our future is indeed bleak.

[ehrnst]

4. Approving was contingent upon approval for full year funding HHS, Labor and Education

In order to avoid political fights over non-defense spending levels, lawmakers agreed to package the military budget bill with the full-year funding for the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Education.

DT can't cut those programs mid year. It was a good condition, and a win to get that done, especially in the face of a bill that was going to get approval by the Senate, even without Dems and those GOP nay votes who are short timers, Sasse, Rand and Sanders.

[jalan48]

6. It's not the approval of existing programs. It's the discussion we never have about

significantly reducing the DOD budget. Like I said, it's a sacred cow that will not be challenged by either party.

[ehrnst]

8. So we do what we can in other areas - like HHS, Labor and Education.

We hold their budget hostage until we get a guarantee that other programs will be fully funded for the year - no cuts by orange twatwaffle.

The military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about came to pass and is here, whether we like it or not.

And it's not just large corporations that make weapons - it's also small businesses that depend on the local military base, and often entire communities have grown up around military installations.

We can argue about the morality of depending on the military for the business at your restaurant, delivery service, printing service, dry cleaner, tailor, catering, filmmakers, photography, event planners, etc, but they are also part of the economy that depends on Defense spending.

Military spending should come down, but it will need to come down incrementally to allow for those small, local businesses to adjust. It would be political suicide for any party to slash the defense budget in half in one year. The ripple effects through various economies would be fatal to many local communities and businesses.

I haven't even touched on defense spending at universities for research, which makes many scholarships and assistantships possible. I'm not talking about weapons development, but things like reconstructive surgery, prosthetics, high efficiency batteries, GPS and emergency medical procedures (where we got superglue.)

Cutting waste is the first step. I'm not defending the bloat, I'm simply talking about the ramifications of cutting off large amounts of government dollars that go into the economy, which we, as Democrats, know is an ecosystem.

[jalan48]

10. I agree with you on this. Hopefully we can make cuts over the years to come.

[ehrnst]

12. Absolutely. (nt)

[democratisphere]

5. Mama Mia that's a lot of dough.

This should make the Militarial Industrial Complex very happy.

[Docreed2003]

7. "Years of belt tightening"

Really Mitch? How much of this budget actually goes to support service members and their families compared to money to your defense contractor buddies?

[NurseJackie]

9. Bernie Sanders voted AGAINST it? Not voting with the Democrats? Interesting.

These are the seven Senators who voted Nay:

Nay R Flake, Jeff AZ
Nay R Perdue, David GA
Nay R Paul, Rand KY
Nay R Sasse, Benjamin NE
Nay R Toomey, Pat PA
Nay R Lee, Mike UT
Nay I Sanders, Bernie VT

Bernie Sanders voted AGAINST it? Not voting with the Democrats? Interesting.

All I'm saying is that this is a departure from the normal description regarding his voting record. I wonder why he and all those Republicans voted against it.

[JHan]

13. optics I imagine. It had increased funding to social programs but...

he voted against to avoid "poison pill" policy riders, and for Democrats, the priority would have been to get this passed with the increases to social programs, imperfect tho they may be. Still, a narrative will be framed that he stuck to his beliefs over voting on something which expands defense funding. ( If we see this narrative emerge, remember other Democrats voted against the NDAA including Harris and Gilibrand)

Rand Paul wanted to include a rider that would stop funding to Planned Parenthood. Flake, Toomey, Lee, Sasse and Perdue made ideological cases to vote against it ( the kind of rhetoric their constituents like). I saw some complaints on Social Media about Dems voting on this, and it MIGHT be used to criticize "establishment Democrats" by people who don't know what else is in the budget.

[JHan]

11. Bracing for the criticisms towards Democrats..because of a singular focus on the defense increase..

When this is part of annual appropriations which keeps the government running ( and I hate bloated defense spending as much as any other sane person)

Notable areas:

EDUCATION, LABOR, HEALTH, AND HUMAN SERVICES

This section of the bill would provide $178 billion in FY2019 funding for the Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services (HHS), Education, and related agencies — an increase of $1 billion from the prior year. A breakdown of its various provisions can be found below.

DEPT. OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES

This section would provide $90.5 billion in discretionary funding for HHS, an increase of $2.3 billion from the prior year.

National Institutes of Health (NIH): The NIH would receive $39.1 billion, an increase of $2 billion from the prior year. That’d include:

$2.3 billion for Alzheimer’s disease research, up $425 million from the prior year, which would exceed the $2 billion funding goal for the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s disease for the first time.

$550 million to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria, increase of $37 million.

$429.4 million for the BRAIN Initiative to map the human brain, an increase of $29 million.

$140 million for research on the universal flu vaccine, a $40 million increase.

Fighting Opioid Abuse: This section would provide $3.7 billion for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other agencies to fight opioid abuse, an increase of $145 million from the prior year. It’d include:

$1.9 billion for the SAMHSA’s State Opioid Response Grant, which includes a 15 percent set-aside for states with the highest opioid use disorder mortality rate and $50 million set-aside for Indian tribes and tribal organizations.

$500 million for research related to opioid addiction, development of opioid alternatives, pain management, and addiction treatment.

$476 million for CDC opioid overdose prevention and surveillance programs, and a public awareness campaign.

Obamacare: No new funding would be provided for the Affordable Care Act (ACA, commonly known as Obamacare). This section would also include the following oversight provisions:

The risk corridor program, which compensates health insurance plans that lose money, would have to be operated in a budget neutral manner so no appropriations could be used as payments to insurers.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) would be required to notify relevant congressional committees two business days before any ACA-related data or grant opportunities are released to the public.

ACA-related spending would have to be classified by category since its inception, and information about employees, contractors, and activities involved in administering Obamacare would have to be published.

Head Start: This section would provide $10.1 billion for Head Start, an increase of $200 million from the prior year. Funding would keep all Head Start programs current, while an additional $35 million would expand the length of Head Start programs’ day and year to increase the duration of services provided.

Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG): This section would provide $5.3 billion, an increase of $50 million from the prior year. The program provides grants to improve the quality of child care programs, increasing provider rates, ensuring safety standards, and expanding access to affordable child care.

Public Health Preparedness and Response:

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which is responsible for advanced research and development of medical countermeasures for national preparedness efforts, would receive $562 million in funding.

Project BioShield would receive $735 million, up $25 million, which aims to enhance national preparedness by procuring medical countermeasures against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats.

$260 million would be provided to improve the response and enhance the effectiveness of the current pandemic influenza capabilities.

DEPT. OF EDUCATION

This section would provide $71.5 billion in FY2019 discretionary funding for the Dept. of Education, an increase of $581 million above the prior year.

Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies: $15.9 billion, an increase of $125 million, would be provided for grants to school districts and schools with a high percentage of low-income students to help all students succeed and meet challenging academic standards.

Title IV Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants: $1.2 billion, an increase of $125 million, would be provided to support activities aimed at giving students a well-rounded education, including STEM education, computer science, and the use of technology to improve instruction. Grants would also go to ensuring safe and supportive learning environments and responding to school violence.

IDEA Grants to States: $12.4 billion, an increase of $87 million, would go to grants for states to support special education services for children with disabilities, including grants for infants and families and children in preschool.

Pell Grants: The maximum Pell grant award would be increased to $6,195 — an increase of $100 — while funding would be provided to support the Year Round Pell.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF): Funding and authorities provided last year would be continued, which modified eligibility criteria for the PSLF. Student borrowers would be eligible for PSLF if they were enrolled in an ineligible repayment plan but otherwise would’ve been eligible for PSLF.

Miscellaneous:

Career & Technical Education State Grants would receive the same funding as the year prior, $1.2 billion.

Grants to states for charter schools, charter management organizations, and other entities for the start-up, replication, and expansion of high-quality charter schools would total $440 million — an increase of $40 million.

Impact Aid would be funded with $1.4 billion, an increase of $32 million, to provide flexible support to local school districts impacted by the presence of federally-owned land and activities, such as military bases.

$65 million in dedicated funding would be provided for evidence-based STEM education programs, including computer science education within the Education Innovation and Research program — an increase of $15 million.

DEPT. OF LABOR

This section of the bill would provide $12.1 billion to the Dept. of Labor, a decrease of $94.3 million from the prior year. (DOL budget represents a decrease from last year but included to show what was funded)

Workforce Training Programs: A total of $2.8 billion would be distributed by formula to states and localities to meet each state’s unique job training and reemployment needs.

Jobs Corps: $1.7 billion would be provided to support Jobs Corps, which is the nation’s largest career technical training and educational program for at-risk youth and has centers in all states, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Veterans Employment Training (VETS) Programs: VETS programs would receive $300 million in funding, a $5 million increase from the prior year. VETS funding provides for intensive employment services to veterans and eligible spouses, transitioning service members, wounded warriors, and disabled veterans.

Rural Workforce Training Initiative: This section would provide $30 million for the dislocated worker training initiative, which offers reemployment and training assistance to dislocated workers in rural areas that were hardest hit by the recession or are recovering slowly. Funding is targeted to retraining workers in the Appalachian and Delta regions, and $5 million of the total is targeted to workforce training for individuals affected by an opioid use disorder.

https://www.countable.us/bills/hr6157-115