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Confined The trimmed down bill contained:
"Disaster Relief
One of the biggest chunks of funds — and one of the more politically popular — is the aid portion of the legislation, which provides $100 billion for communities ravaged by Hurricanes Milton and Helene and other disasters. Included in that money is $21 billion to help farmers whose crops were ravaged by natural disasters.
The bill also provides full funding for the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore that collapsed in March.
Payments to farmers
Lawmakers set aside $10 billion in direct economic assistance, available to any farmer who applied for a federal agricultural funding program such as crop insurance, subsidies or disaster assistance in 2024. The aid would be distributed based on how many acres of eligible crops they grow. Proponents argued it was necessary in part because Republicans and Democrats had failed to reach agreement on a new farm bill, leaving subsidy payments at a level set six years ago.
A pay raise for lawmakers
It has been more than a decade since members of Congress have gotten a cost-of-living increase in their salaries. Lawmakers, loath to be seen giving themselves a pay raise while their constituents face economic challenges, have routinely included language in spending bills that exempts them from the wage increases that other federal employees receive.
In a legislative sleight of hand reported earlier by Bloomberg Government, the spending bill’s drafters omitted that provision this time, positioning themselves for a raise of 3.8 percent, or about $6,600 for most members, whose current salary is $174,000.
Some lawmakers have long argued that they should be allowed to receive cost-of-living increases to ensure that average people — not just the ultrawealthy — can afford to serve in Congress. Others have contended that the appearance of self-dealing has made the issue too toxic.
Already one centrist House Democrat, Representative Jared Golden of Maine, who narrowly held his seat in November in his Trump-won district, has said he will oppose the bill because of this measure.
Child care
Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, left, and Senator Patty Murray of Washington during a news conference last year. Ms. DeLauro and Ms. Murray have long worked to increase funding for child care programs.Credit...Pete Marovich for The New York Times
Two of the top Democratic appropriators, Senator Patty Murray of Washington and Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, have worked to shoehorn additional money for child care and early education programs into virtually every major spending bill that Congress considers.
Tucked into this legislation is $250 million in emergency spending to increase access to child care for working families and another $250 million for renovations to child care facilities damaged by natural disasters and temporary child care services in affected areas.
Other measures include:
Allowing E15 ethanol — gasoline blended with 15 percent corn-based ethanol — to be sold year-round.
An additional $25 million to protect the residences of Supreme Court justices.
Requiring vendors selling tickets to “concerts, sports and other large gatherings” to disclose to consumers the total ticket price — including additional fees — at the beginning of a transaction.
Transferring control of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium from the federal government to the District of Columbia, paving the way for the Washington Commanders football team to move their stadium from Maryland to play home games in the nation’s capital.
Criminalizing the publication of “nonconsensual intimate visual depictions,” including deepfake pornography, and requiring social media platforms to have procedures in place to remove the content after being notified by a victim.
Imposing new restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers, the companies hired by employers and government programs like Medicare to negotiate drug prices and oversee prescriptions. The measures would discourage those companies from steering patients toward more expensive drugs.
Throwing out a requirement that lawmakers buy health coverage on an insurance exchange established by the Affordable Care Act and allowing them to get coverage from the traditional federal employee benefits plan.
Adding to the existing responsibilities of the assistant secretary of commerce for travel and tourism the additional mandate of promoting “locations and events in the United States that are important to music tourism.”"
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/us/politics/spending-bill-explainer.html
