APPROPRIATIONS BILL APPROVED BY CONGRESS HAS FUNDS FOR LOCAL PRIORITIES

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By Miriam Raftery

December 26, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – An omnibus appropriations bill passed the House earlier this month on a 316 to 133 vote, avoiding a government shutdown.  The measure was passed by the Senate and signed by President Obama.  Among local representatives, only Republican Duncan Hunter voted no.  Democrats Susan Davis, Juan Vargas and Scott Peters joined with Republican Darrell Issa in voting yes.

“Many San Diego priorities focusing on the middle class are included in this bipartisan omnibus spending bill,” says Congresswoman Davis. “While not perfect by any means, this bill has critical investments for medical research, innovation, education, infrastructure, and supports many jobs in our region.”

The Omnibus Appropriations bill includes:

  • Health Care:  $32 billion for medical research funded by the National Institute of Health. The San Diego region gets a significant portion of NIH funding, around $800 million yearly.
  • Education: Increases funding for Impact Aid for schools in close proximity of federally owned land (military installations) by $17 million.
  • Defense: Contains up to $25 million to recruit, integrate, retain, and train women in the Afghan National Security Forces, as well encourage participation in elections. Davis included a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act that authorized this funding to ensure Afghan women play an increasing role in the rebuilding of their country.
  • Shipbuilding: Contains funding to accelerate NASSCO's next Navy ship, the third Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) ship, supporting 4000 plus jobs in the San Diego region.
  • Renewable Energy:  Provides a major boost to renewable energy by extending the Wind Production Tax Credit for five years (through 2019), and extending the Solar Investment Tax Credit for five years (through 2021).  Extending the solar tax credit is estimated to create 61,000 jobs nationwide in 2017 alone.  San Diego is a leader in the growth of solar energy industry.
  • Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy R&D:  Provides an 8 percent increase over 2015 for R&D activities in the pursuit of new clean energy and energy efficiency technologies.
  • Transportation: The popular TIGER grants are being used across the country to repair infrastructure and contribute to economic growth, including improvements at the San Diego port.  This bill avoids cuts attempted by the Majority and restores the funding to the 2015 level of $500 million.
  • Working Families: Increases Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funding by $86 million. Davis led a letter with the California delegation for this funding increase.
  • Law Enforcement: The bill provides $187 million for COPS hiring grants, which is $7 million above the 2015 level.

 

 


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