Lucas: Funding Bill Abandons Bipartisan Agreement, Prioritizes Partisan Politics

H.R. 7608:

• Designates $37.5 billion as “emergency” spending, which is additional funding on top of the budget caps in the Bipartisan Budget Act signed into law last year. Within the total,
  • $15 billion is for the Democrats’ partisan infrastructure bill, mostly for the Environmental Protection Agency;
  • Another $10 billion is for coronavirus relief, even though the Democrats passed a $3 trillion supplemental bill in May that is going to be considered by the Senate in the next few weeks; and
  • $12.5 billion is for veterans’ health care, even though it was known that additional funding would be needed when the budget caps were put in place.
• Prohibits funds from being used for a border wall system along the southern border.
• Restricts the President’s ability to transfer funds to address a national emergency.
• Overturns the Administration’s current Mexico City Policy, allowing foreign organizations to receive federal funds even if they perform abortions.
• Provides $55.5 million for the United National Population Fund (UNFPA), even though the Administration has determined that UNFPA participates in the management of a coercive abortion program.
• Removes conditions that promote transparency and accountability on the United Nations and international organizations, including the World Health Organization.
• Prevents the Administration from making much-needed reforms to programs that are plagued by improper payments – the Department of Agriculture reported overpayments of $3.44 billion in 2019 alone.
• Permanently prevents this and any future Administration from making changes to welfare programs that simply require working age, non-disabled adults without children to go back to work in times of low unemployment.
• Recklessly limits America’s domestic energy and mineral production by:
  • Restricting oil and gas production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge;
  • Preventing new offshore energy exploration; and
  • Prohibiting the mining of metals in northern Minnesota.
• Underfunds the President’s request by $12 million for offshore and onshore conventional energy development.
• Directs $500 million to international climate funds, such as the Green Climate Fund, even though the benefits of this spending are questionable and the potential for fraud is high.
• Hurts job creators by directing the Environmental Protection Agency to overstep with cumbersome regulations by:
  • Failing to exempt farmers and livestock producers from burdensome greenhouse gas permitting and reporting requirements;
  • Undermining the Administration’s ability to roll back Obama-era environmental regulations on methane, Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (“MATS”), and Waters of the U.S. (“WOTUS”); and
  • Prohibiting the Administration from finalizing guidance to prevent extreme delays on energy infrastructure projects.

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