FY 2015 Spending Bill Contains Controversial Provisions

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Representative Ander Crenshaw, a Republican from Florida, left, and Representative Harold ÒHalÓ Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky, question Daniel "Danny" Werfel, acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, June 3, 2013. Werfel told lawmakers he is working to restore trust in the beleaguered U.S. tax agency and said he wants to make improvements before pressing for a bigger budget. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Ander Crenshaw; Danny Werfel; Hal Rogers

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress unveiled a fiscal 2015 spending bill late Tuesday, but some provisions tucked into the measure were drawing opposition.

The legislation, called the "Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015," would provide more than $1 trillion in discretionary spending. It is referred to as the "cromnibus," because it is a hybrid of an omnibus spending bill and a continuing resolution. It would fund most government agencies through Sept. 30, 2015, the end of the federal government's 2015 fiscal year, but it would only fund the Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 27.

At press time, some lawmakers said they oppose certain provisions, such as one that would roll back the Dodd-Frank Act's prohibition on against banks keeping swaps trading in units backed by the federal government's deposit insurance fund.

But leaders of Senate and House Appropriations Committees were calling for passage of the cromnibus. The current continuing resolution funding the federal government expires on Thursday, so Congress may pass a short-term CR to prevent a shutdown while it works on passing the larger bill.

"This bill fulfills our constitutional duty to fund the government, preventing damage from shutdown politics that are bad for the economy, cost jobs and hurt middle class families," House Appropriations Committee chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., and Senate Appropriations Committee chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., said in a joint statement. "While not everyone got everything they wanted, such compromises must be made in a divided government. These are the tough choices that we must make to govern responsibly and do what the American people sent us here to do."

Under the legislation, the IRS would receive roughly $10.95 billion, about $346 million less than the prior fiscal year. On the other hand, the Securities and Exchange Commission would receive $150 million more than it did in fiscal 2014. It would receive $1.5 billion, according to summaries of the bill from the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

Roughly $71 billion in budgetary resources would be provided to the Department of Transportation in fiscal 2015, more than the enacted level for the previous year. However, the highly popular Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, competitive grant program would be appropriated $500 million, $100 million less than the fiscal 2014 enacted level.

The legislation includes more than $40 billion for the federal highway program, the same as the level enacted for fiscal 2014 and authorized by the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century transportation law. Transit programs would be provided a total of $10.9 billion, which is $141 million higher than the previous year.

Amtrak also would receive the same level of funds as for the last fiscal year, according to the summaries. As was the case in the appropriations law for fiscal 2014, no funds would provided for high-speed rail.

The legislation would provide $3 billion for the community development block Grant program, $30 million less than the enacted level for fiscal 2014. Grants under the program are used for affordable housing, economic development and social services. The measure would bar communities from selling CDBG grants to other communities, and would require grants provided to for-profit companies for economic development to be underwritten, according to the summary from the Senate committee.

Another program that provides grants for affordable housing, the Home Investment Partnerships Program, would also receive less funding in fiscal 2015. The amount provided the HOME program in the bill would be $900 million, $100 million less than the enacted level for fiscal 2014.

The clean water and drinking water state revolving funds would receive the same level of funding as in fiscal 2014.

Funding for Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has jurisdiction over most muni interest rate swaps, would increase to $250 million from $215 million the previous year.

The bill includes an extension of sections of the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which bans taxing Internet access, through fiscal 2015. But it does not include the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states to require out-of-state remote sellers such as online retailers to collect their sales taxes. State and local government groups have urged Congress to combine an extension on the moratorium with the MFA and pass it this year.

The legislation would provide $372 million for the federal payments in lieu of taxes program, under which the federal government makes payments to local governments to help offset the losses in their property tax revenues that occur because of the presence of federal lands in their jurisdictions. About $442 million would be authorized for PILT in fiscal 2015 when the funding in this bill is combined with PILT funding authorized by a defense bill. Securing funding for the PILT program is a top priority of the National Association of Counties.

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