Spending bill contains controversy
$2.3 trillion package linked to aid legislation
WASHINGTON – The $2.3 trillion spending package Congress overwhelmingly passed last week has a little bit of everything.
Fused from two major bills – a $900 billion coronavirus aid package to address the economic fallout of the pandemic and a $1.4 trillion spending measure to fund the government through Sept. 30 – the legislation includes money for direct payments to millions of families, vaccine distribution efforts and pay raises for the military.
It also includes controversial provisions that would extend tax breaks for race car tracks and business lunches, millions for venues that aren’t open and a requirement that carbon monoxide detectors be installed in public housing apartments. It includes billions in foreign aid, which often draws conservatives’ ire, and money for President Donald Trump’s border wall, which enrages liberals.
Trump signaled he may veto the bill, saying foreign aid and money for cultural institutions have no place in a bill aimed at helping the country weather the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 332,000 and shuttered thousands of businesses.
Trump called the bill a “disgrace” for not providing enough in direct payments to Americans and for spending too much on foreign aid (though the budget he submitted to Congresscalls for roughly the same funding levels).
Many of the tax breaks and controversial provisions are included in the $1.4 trillion spending bill attached to the relief bill.
It is “a sweetheart deal for defense contractors, guarantees high levels of farm subsidies deep into 2021 and (tacks) on dozens of other special-interest provisions that won’t be found until days or weeks after the lawmakers have left the Capitol,” said Steve Ellis, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group that tracks government spending.
Foreign aid programs
Some of the entries include $505 million in aid to Central American countries; $25 million for gender equity and democracy promotion programs in Pakistan; $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt; and $219.5 million in aid to Southeast Asian nations.
Expanded military budget
The bill includes increases in military spending and contracts through 2021.
Lawmakers approved $696 billion in military appropriations, including $23.3 billion to build 10 warships and $9.6 billion for 96 F-35 fighters. Liberal Democrats opposed the budget increases.
‘Three-martini lunch’ deductions
Democrats objected to a provision that would allow businesses to deduct two full years worth of business meals when filing taxes, deriding the measure as “three-martini lunches” for the rich.
The tax code allows half of those costs to be deducted. The cost of the new benefit, which the White House argued would help restaurants, is projected at $6 billion in tax breaks for corporations over the next decade.
Keeping live venues afloat
About $15 billion of aid is designated for performing arts centers, independent movie theaters and other cultural institutions hit hard by the imposition of social distancing measures designed to limit the spread of the virus.
The Save Our Stages act is aimed at helping venues that have closed or are at risk of shutting down.
Supporters of the bipartisan effort said the grants would provide financial support to pay employees and preserve a critical economic sector.
Aid to cultural institutions
More than $40 million was approved for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Washington cultural jewel, many of whose trustees are appointed by the president.
The money includes $26 million for operations, maintenance and security, plus $14 million for improvements.
Also receiving taxpayer funds would be the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum ($61.4 million), the National Endowment for the Arts ($167.5 million) and the Smithsonian Institution (more than $1 billion).
Money for the border wall
The spending bill includes funds to fulfill one of Trump’s most prominent campaign promises: construction of a partition on the U.S-Mexican border.
The $1.375 billion for the border wall is not as much as the nearly $2 billion Trump wanted, but it’s more than his critics want taxpayers to cover.
A ‘NASCAR tax break’
The package would extend a tax benefit for racetrack owners.
Under the “NASCAR tax break,” owners could get a windfall of up to $224 million over 10 years to write off construction and renovation costs.
Establishment of museums
Legislation tied to the government funding bill approved the creation of Smithsonian museums for Latino and women’s history.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, opposed the move.
“The last thing we need is to further divide an already divided nation within an array of separate but equal museums of hyphenated identity groups,” he said.
Tax breaks for the liquor industry
The liquor industry was a big winner in the bill, which would permanently secure billions in tax breaks even though studies show alcohol consumption has risen sharply during the pandemic.
Among the measures is a cut in the excise tax for beer, which would probably incur a 10-year cost of $1 billion; an excise tax break for domestic wine producers worth $2.2 billion; and a tax break for makers of distilled spirits valued at $5.7 billion.
Presidential transition expenses
The package includes $9.9 million that would help President-elect Joe Biden’s administration assume office in the coming year. The bill includes at least $8 million meant for the Trump administration to aid in the process.
Postal Service funding
The aid package includes a provision that would convert a $10 billion loan to the U.S. Postal Service into direct aid.
The bill would preserve six-day postal delivery and prevent the consolidation or closure of rural and small post offices, measures which the president has opposed.