WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14) voted to pass the final Fiscal Year 2024 “minibus” appropriations bill, a package of six funding bills that will lower costs, make housing more affordable, create and protect good-paying jobs, invest in clean energy and coastal resilience, and protect women’s access to reproductive care. The first of the two funding packages was signed into law by President Biden on March 09, 2024.

“Good news – the funding package provides a 5.2% pay raise for military families, more affordable child care for hardworking families, and avoids a costly government shutdown. House Democrats are delivering for the American people – putting “People over Politics” to invest in communities across America. Despite the Republican chaos, Democrats prevailed to support good-paying jobs, strengthen nutrition assistance, invest in health care research, protect vital investments to expand cleaner, cheaper energy, and support our Veterans.

“House Democrats overwhelmingly supported the measure, while Republicans largely voted against the package.

“A significant number of Tampa Bay area community priority projects are also funded to support important neighborhoods on both sides of the Bay. These investments will lower costs, boost opportunities, grow jobs, clean up Tampa Bay and tackle housing affordability.

“I’m grateful to my Democratic colleagues for staying strong together to reject extreme cuts pushed by MAGA Republicans following months of costly shutdown threats and four continuing resolutions.”

The latest funding package includes an additional community priority grant championed by Castor, listed below, in addition to the twelve previously announced projects.

Storm Drainage Improvement - City of St. Petersburg
The project will provide for drainage improvements that will alleviate flooding on 7th Street North between 50th Avenue North and 53rd Terrace North and also on 50th Avenue North between 4th Street North and 7th Street North to bolster the stormwater system capacity, alleviate flooding, and reduce risk to property damage.

Details on the thirteen community projects championed by Castor can be found here.

Below are a few of the important provisions included in the funding packages:

Helping Children and Families:

• $12.3 billion for Head Start and $8.7 billion for Child Care and Development Block Grants to increase access to quality child care for working families and invest in the early childhood education workforce
• Strengthens lifesaving biomedical research through targeted funding increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and maintains critical investments in public health infrastructure at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Fully funds the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and reverses the Republican effort to slash fruit and vegetable benefits
• Increased funding for Title I schools, job training and workforce programs, to increase our pipeline of qualified workers  

Affordable Housing:

• Prevents the eviction of nearly 5 million low-income individuals and families and further invests in legal assistance for low-income renters to prevent evictions
• Supports the vulnerable with public housing safety, maintenance and increased inspections and oversight, including remediation of lead paint and radon
• Includes $3.3 billion for Community Development Block Grant Programs that support development activities to build stronger, more resilient communities

Veterans and Servicemembers:

• Prioritizes support for military families, including increasing pay by 5.2 percent, the Basic Allowance for Housing by 5.4 percent, and the Basic Allowance for Subsistence by 1.7 percent. 
• Provides $22.5 million for the HUD/VA Supportive Housing for Homeless Veterans to confront Veteran homelessness
• $990 million for women’s health, to include gender-specific health care services and initiatives and improvements to health facilities treating our female Veterans
• $3.1 million for caregiver support
• $16.2 billion for mental health services, including $559 million for suicide prevention

Military Construction:

• $336 million for Child Development Centers to support the planning and design of future facilities and increased capacity and better facilities for the 1.6 million children of active duty servicemembers
• $489 million for theremediation of toxic PFAS contamination at military installations
• $2 billion for family housing, including $30 million to increase oversight of Department of Defense (DOD)-owned and privatized housing
• Provides strong funding for additional planning, design and construction of critical projects in a strategically vital region of the world

Climate/Environment:

• Confronts climate change with sustained strong funding for Earth science and related climate research
• $60 million to increase the resiliency and efficiency of the nation’s electricity grid in the face of increasingly severe weather
• Provides $471 million for State and Community Energy Programs, like the popular Weatherization Assistance Program, Weatherization Readiness Fund and Energy Future Grants
• Protects historic investments in the Inflation Reduction Act and adds an additional $100 million to support environmental justice initiatives
• Includes a $1 billion increase above 2023 for climate and energy resiliency initiatives in the Department of Defense
• Robust funding for the National Park Service to support system operations, park protection and historic preservation
• Strong funding for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support conservation, restoration and recovery initiatives

Other:

• $20.3 billion for disaster response and recovery efforts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help recover from natural and man-made disasters
• $120 million for the Port Infrastructure Development Program
• Provides funding to hire 1,800 new Air Traffic Controllers and $532 million for Airport Improvement projects
• $207 million in funding to the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities
• Assists small businesses and entrepreneurs through the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI)
• Protects our democracy with Election Security Grants that ensure the integrity and safety of our elections
• Supports the operations of United States Embassies, diplomats and development workers around the globe, while investing $10 billion in global health to support communities around the world

A detailed summary of the first minibus is available here and the second is available here.

These funding packages will:

• Helping with the high cost of living, creating and sustaining tens of thousands of good paying jobs, fighting inflation, and providing full funding for key lifelines such as food assistance and more affordable housing and homeownership.
• Protecting women’s rights by blocking attempts to limit women’s access to reproductive health care, including abortion, and by increasing funding for gender-based violence prevention and prosecution programs.
• Confronting the climate crisis, fighting climate change, and ensuring America’s energy independence with robust, transformative investments in deploying clean energy technologies in communities across the country and providing funding for cutting-edge scientific and climate-related research.
• Honoring our commitments to our veterans by ensuring they receive the care and benefits that they have earned and investing in veterans’ health care, including targeted investments that advance women's health, mental health and homelessness assistance.
• Fund community projects: Responds directly to pressing needs across the Tampa Bay area and districts like mine by supporting underserved areas and fostering the economic development that makes communities healthier, safer and stronger through community projects.