Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
A rundown of the the budget deal
Congressional leaders finalized a major budget deal Wednesday that would increase federal spending by more than $500 billion over the next two years. Congressional aides and lawmakers familiar with the plan provided details of the framework Wednesday. Her
Increases military and
domestic spending: Under the agreement, previously established defense spending limits would be lifted by $165 billion over two years — by $80 billion in the current fiscal year and $85 billion in the next one. Nondefense spending limits would be raised by $131 billion over two years — $63 billion this year and $68 billion in 2019. The agreement includes another $160 billion in unlimited spending on overseas Pentagon and State Department operations. Extends the nation’s borrowing authority: According to Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the plan will include a provision suspending what is known as the “debt ceiling” into next year.
Funds the Children’s Health Insurance Program for a
decade: Congress reauthorized the program for six years as part of a stopgap government funding bill they passed last month. The measure unveiled Wednesday extends that funding to a window of 10 years. The program helps about 9 million children and hundreds of thousands of pregnant women who cannot otherwise afford medical care.
$6 billion to address opioid addiction and mental health
issues: The money, allocated over two years, will go toward issues lawmakers in both parties have been increasingly speaking up about in recent months.
It also includes $4 billion to improve health care for veterans, $20 billion for infrastructure improvements and $2 billion to support additional research at the National Institutes of Health. More funding for disaster
relief: The plan includes $90 billion more to be spent on disaster aid for recent hurricanes and wildfires, mostly in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. Does not address ‘dreamers’:
While many Democrats had pushed for protections for young people brought to the United States as children, but who now live here illegally, the deal does not address those ‘dreamers.’ Nor does it tackle border security or legal immigration laws, areas where some Republicans are pushing for changes.