Associated
Press
WASHINGTON — Sometimes the last train out of the station
can't carry everything. That's the case with the $1.3 trillion spending measure
Republican and Democratic bargainers unveiled late Wednesday and plan to push
through Congress this week.
Omitted were federal subsidies that President Donald Trump
ended for insurers who lower deductibles and co-payments for lower-earning
consumers, as required by the Affordable Care Act. Also blocked: a new $30
billion, three-year program to help carriers cover their costliest customers.
Both proposals, which had bipartisan support, were aimed at curbing the growth
of premiums. Bargainers clashed over many differences, including proposed GOP
abortion restrictions.
The measure financing government agencies through
September is likely the last must-pass bill lawmakers will consider this
election year. Here's a sampling of what made it aboard and what got left
behind:
IN THE BILL
—$700 billion for defense: Bargainers said the Defense
Department won $61 billion more than last year, the biggest annual defense
boost in 15 years. More money for procuring ships, planes and equipment and a
2.4 percent pay raise for troops.
—$591 billion for domestic programs: That includes nearly
$5 billion to battle abuse of opioid drugs, $3 billion more than last year; $21
billion for transportation and other infrastructure projects; and boosts for
veterans, law enforcement and aid to states for child care.
—$1.57 billion for President Donald Trump to begin
building his wall with Mexico and otherwise bolster border security.
—Gateway: $900 million is not specifically directed to a
new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, as many New York area lawmakers — including
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — wanted. Trump wanted to block
it. But a Schumer aide said the project was in position to win more than half
the money sought.
—Wildfires: Creates a disaster fund exceeding $20 billion
over a decade to combat increasingly worse wildfires that have devastated the
West in recent years.
—Guns: Incremental steps to curb violence. One measure
pushed by second-ranking Senate GOP leader John Cornyn of Texas and backed by
both parties — and even the National Rifle Association — offers additional
federal grants to prod federal agencies and states to send already required
records to the federal background check system. Cornyn said it threatens to
withhold performance bonuses from political appointees whose federal agencies
lag.
—Tax fix: Republicans passed their $1.5 trillion tax bill
so quickly last December that it's studded with mistakes. A major one involves
language inadvertently giving a tax advantage to farmers who sell crops to
cooperatives instead of other buyers. Democrats who unanimously opposed the tax
bill had little motivation to help the GOP fix its goof — but they did in
exchange for expanded tax credits for low-income housing.
—Odds and ends: Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and James
Lankford, R-Okla., cited money for states to buy new voting machines and
conduct cybersecurity training. Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris of California
and Doug Jones of Alabama claimed a win with more money for historically black
colleges and universities. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said there was language
forbidding employers from taking workers' tips.
NOT IN THE BILL
—Helping Dreamers: Protections against deportation were
not revived for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants brought to this
country illegally as children. Democrats backed the renewal and sought possible
citizenship for the immigrants but were unwilling to pay the price the White
House demanded: $25 billion for Trump's proposed wall. Trump halted President
Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, though courts
have temporarily kept it alive.
—Border security: No increases Trump wanted for additional
border patrol agents or added beds for detained immigrants. No penalties for
"sanctuary cities" that refuse to help federal authorities find
immigrants here illegally.
—Robert Mueller: Amid a stream of attacks by Trump on the
special counsel's probe of possible connections between Russia and Trump's 2016
presidential campaign, there is no language making it harder for the president
to fire Mueller.
—Policy fights: Democrats said they blocked more than 100
changes Republicans wanted. These included an easing of Clean Water and Clean
Air act protections, halting funds for Planned Parenthood and relaxing rules
for making unproven medications available to people with terminal illnesses.
Associated Press writer Matthew Daly
contributed to this report.
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