Funds SLV projects, too

WASHINGTON D.C. — The Fiscal Year 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act approving $1.7 trillion in federal spending passed the House of Representatives on Friday and was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Friday, effectively averting a government shutdown late Friday night and designating funding through September of 2023.

The bill, known on Capitol Hill as the “omnibus bill,” was negotiated by leadership from both parties, first passing the Senate 68-32 followed by the House 225-201-1, including nine Republicans who voted in favor.

According to a statement from U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, “This bill invests $772.5 billion in non-defense discretionary programs, including $118.7 billion — a 22 percent increase — for VA medical care, and $858 billion in defense funding. It provides $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and our NATO allies and $40.6 billion in emergency funding to assist communities across the country recovering from drought, hurricanes, flooding, wildfire, natural disasters and other matters.”

The bill also provides a 4.6% bump in wages for military service members and people serving in the Pentagon.

Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D) and John Hickenlooper (D) voted for its passage. Colorado U.S. House Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-District 3) voted against it.

In its final form, the bill includes reform of the 1887 Electoral Court Act and prohibits the vice president from overturning results of the election when Congress counts Electoral College votes. The bi-partisan legislation, sponsored by Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), is the first piece of federal legislation created in response to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 by pro-Trump rioters.

Several key programs supported by Democrats were eliminated from the bill as part of the negotiations between party leadership. Extension of the Expanded Child Tax Credit — a program Sen. Bennet authored and one he continued to advocate for strongly — was eliminated as well as immigration legislation that would have provided a path to citizenship for DACA students who entered the country illegally as children.

The SAFE banking act was also cut, which sought to remove federal banking restrictions when working with legally established cannabis businesses.

The massive bill was over 4,000 pages long and was not released until 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Dec. 20, a push driven by a Friday deadline to either approve the funding package or pass another stop-gap bill that would allow the government to continue operations until a final bill could be passed.

The lack of time to review the contents of the bill by rank-and-file members of Congress raised protests from Republicans, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) who condemned the short deadline, further vowing — if he is elected to be Speaker of the House — that any bill sponsored by a Republican who votes for the omnibus bill will be “dead on arrival” in the House under his leadership.

Ultimately, 18 Republican senators voted in favor along with 50 Democrats.

Democratic leadership said failure to have a final bill signed into law created uncertainty among federal departments, especially given the funding bill would be taken up under the new Congress that, under Republican majority rule, would likely re-initiate negotiations without having party leadership firmly in place.

The majority of House members were not present for the vote with 235 signing proxy letters, designating a fellow member to vote on their behalf and attesting “they were physically unable to attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the public health emergency.”

Congresswoman Boebert was among those who were not present in person and designated Congressman Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia) to vote on her behalf.

In May of 2020 at the height of the pandemic, Congress passed a law allowing members to vote by proxy or to vote virtually as a measure to keep Congress in operation while still observing guidelines recommended by the CDC to limit the transmission of COVID. Since then, voting by proxy has been used often by both Republicans and Democrats for a variety of reasons.

SLV projects funded

Four San Luis Valley (SLV) projects are among 94 projects across Colorado receiving funding in the Senate version of the FY 2023 federal funding bill, otherwise known as the “omnibus bill.”

Overall, Colorado will welcome $178 million for Colorado projects this year, with $4,853,000 of that devoted to the SLV alone.

Funding for the projects was secured — sometimes independently, sometimes in collaboration — by U.S. Colorado Senators Michael Bennet (D) and John Hickenlooper (D) through the Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) process via requests submitted by local governments or non-profits.

The senators then submitted these projects for consideration in one of the nine annual funding bills that accept CDS requests.

Among those green lighted by the Senate, the City of Monte Vista was awarded $828,000 toward a generator for the Outcalt Event and Conference at SLV Ski Hi Complex plus four portable showers and 15 RV spaces so the facility can be used as an emergency shelter and warming center for the region. 

According to Gigi Dennis, Monte Vista City Manager who wrote the application for the earmark, the city will have to raise an additional 25% to match the funds, which will come through the Dept of Homeland Security.

"We are so appreciative of Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper for being supportive of this project. It is a game changer and enhances the usage of the Ski Hi campus, " Dennis said in a statement to the Valley Courier.

The senators also obtained funding for the City of Creede to receive $425,000 towards the Lower Willow Creek micro-hydroelectric generation project.

Senator Bennet secured $3 million in funding for the for the Conejos Cooperative Project Reservoir in Antonito plus $600,000 for the Town of La Jara toward their Wastewater Sewer Lagoon Rehab Project.

“Coloradans know best what their communities need,” said Hickenlooper. “These projects are examples of how everyone wins when Washington listens to the needs of the people we serve.”

“For the second year in a row, this process has empowered Coloradans to tell Congress directly about the challenges their communities face and how Washington can be a better partner,” Bennet said. “I’m pleased to help bring this funding to over eighty projects across our state.”

In addition to the Congressionally Directed Spending projects in Colorado, the senators secured funding for other major Colorado priorities, including significant resources for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), $186 million to fund Western drought programs under the WIIN Act, $941 million for the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s conservation operations and $515 million for the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program to offset lost property tax revenue to counties with significant federal lands

The Senate released the text of the omnibus on Tuesday and is expected to pass the bill later this week. However, funding for the projects is contingent on Congress passing a final FY23 bill, which means it needs to pass both the House and the Senate before heading to President Biden’s desk.