Civic Register
| 1.22.19

Reopening Gov’t Thru September, Funding Border Security & Disaster Relief, Plus Extensions of DACA & TPS

Do you support or oppose this bill?

This is a summary of the End the Shutdown and Secure the Border Act, which is expected to be voted on by the Senate as a substitute amendment to H.R. 268 on Thursday. If successful, it will replace the entirety of H.R. 268 in its current form and we'll transfer this summary to the bill page.

Summary:

This bill — the End the Shutdown and Secure the Border Act — would fund and reopen agencies affected by the partial government shutdown through the end of September. It would include the administration’s $5.7 billion request for building a barrier on the Southern border, along with three years of protected status & work authorization for recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Further, the bill would provide $12.7 billion in disaster relief for areas impacted by natural disasters in 2018. A breakdown of its various sections can be found below.

IMMIGRATION REFORMS

The BRIDGE Act: This section would allow foreign nationals who are enrolled in DACA and meet certain criteria to receive temporary “provisional protected presence” and employment authorization for three years. Eligible recipients would be DACA enrollees who entered the country illegally before June 15, 2012; hadn’t been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanors, or three or more misdemeanors; and don’t pose a threat to public safety.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS): This section would provide temporary “provisional protected presence” and employment authorization for three years to individuals granted TPS. Eligible recipients would have continually resided in the U.S. since 2011, register with the government & pass background checks, and couldn’t have committed a felony, serious crime, or pose a national security threat.

Asylum Reform: To help address the humanitarian crisis of unaccompanied minors entering the country illegally, this bill would create an alternative method of seeking protection in the U.S. from persecution in their home country.

Unaccompanied minors would be required to make asylum applications at designated processing facilities in Central America. The State Department would be required to establish at least one asylum application processing facility in each of the following countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.

Unaccompanied minors would be prohibited from making asylum claims in the U.S., and if they enter the country illegally to do so they’d be returned to their home country. Up to 50,000 applications could be accepted for review in a fiscal year, and up to 15,000 applicants could be granted asylum each fiscal year.

FY2019 APPROPRIATIONS

HOMELAND SECURITY

This section would provide $70.4 billion in discretionary FY2019 funding for the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), including $5.7 billion for construction of a physical barrier along high priority portions of the southwest border.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP): $19.9 billion would be provided for FY2019, an increase of $5.9 billion from the prior year. That’d support the hiring of 750 new Border Patrol agents, 375 CBP officers, equipment, and technology to support operations at the border and at ports of entry.

  • Within the total, funding would be focused on combating opioid smuggling through ports of entry, improving tactical communications, recapitalization of inspection equipment, procurement of additional surveillance systems, and three multi-role enforcement aircraft plus enhancements to aerial drone capabilities.
  • Of the total, $800 million would be focused on addressing humanitarian needs encountered by CBP along the southwest border.

Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE): $8.5 billion would be provided, an increase of $1.4 billion from the prior year. Funding would provide for an average of 52,000 detention beds per day, plus the addition of 2,000 law enforcement personnel, support staff, and legal personnel.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA): $4.84 billion in funding would be provided for the TSA, a decrease of $83 million from the prior year. It’d make targeted investments in personnel, canine teams, and advanced checkpoint technology such as:

  • Funding for 1,450 new TSA personnel to staff checkpoints and mitigate wait times;
  • An additional 50 canine teams to allow for increased throughput of passengers;
  • Investments in future checkpoint technology;
  • Fully funding layers of security such as passenger pre-screening, the Federal Air Marshal Service, and the Federal Flight Deck Officer program.

U.S. Coast Guard: $11.9 billion would be provided to support USCG operations and the hiring of additional personnel. Funding would also go to the construction of a new Polar Security Cutter, Offshore Patrol Cutter acquisition, Fast Response Cutter acquisition, aircraft recapitalization, and shore infrastructure enhancements.

U.S. Secret Service: $2.18 billion in funding would be provided for FY2019, an increase of $173 million from the prior year. It would fully support Secret Service activities and additional hiring needed for the 2020 presidential campaign and support for upcoming national security events. That’d include full funding for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, plus an additional $6 million targeted to training state and local officials in computer forensics and cyber investigations.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): $19.8 billion in total funding would be provided, of which $15.5 billion would go to the Disaster Relief Fund. Of the total, $3.3 billion would go to grants and training programs for state and local first responders and emergency management personnel.

Miscellaneous

  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would receive $132 million for E-Verify operations and enhancements.
  • The newly established Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Office would receive $429 million for its activities to detect and prevent chemical, biological, and nuclear attacks against the U.S.

AGRICULTURE

This section of the bill would provide $23 billion in FY2019 discretionary funding for U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) programs and would authorize funding for mandatory nutrition programs at estimated levels.

Food and Nutrition Programs: This section would provide discretionary and mandatory funding for USDA’s food and nutrition programs, including:

  • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): $73.476 billion in required mandatory funding would be provided to fund the program through 2019.
  • Child Nutrition Programs: $23.14 billion in mandatory funding, which would provide meals for an estimated 30.7 million participants.
  • Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): $6.075 billion in discretionary funding, a decrease of $100 million — which is based on USDA enrollment estimates and won’t prevent eligible participants from getting benefits.

Rural Development: $3 billion in FY19 funding, an amount equal to the prior year.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA): $3.08 billion in discretionary FY19 funding for the FDA, including a $257.6 million increase for Medical Product Safety and a $13.8 million increase for Food Safety activities (the FDA gets another $2.5 billion in funding from user fees).

COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND SCIENCE

This section of the bill would provide $64.1 billion in discretionary for federal commerce, justice, and science-related activities through the Depts. of Commerce and Justice, among other agencies.

The Commerce Dept. would be provided with $11.4 billion in funding for FY2019, an increase of $276.6 million from the prior year. Among the agencies that’d get funding include:

  • Bureau of the Census: $3.82 billion would be provided, an increase of $1 billion from the prior year, so the Census Bureau can continue its efforts to hold the costs of the 2020 Census lower than the 2010 Census.
  • National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): $5.425 billion, including full funding for NOAA’s flagship weather satellits and increased funding for NOAA’s core mission programs.

The Justice Department would be provided with $30.9 billion in funding for FY2019, an increase of $638 million from the prior year. That’d include a 2% increase for salaries and expenses for most federal law enforcement agencies. Among the entities funded under this section would include:

  • Funding for federal law enforcement agencies, like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and U.S. Marshals Service would be increased by roughly 2-3%.
  • Immigration courts would be funded with $563 million, an increased of $59 million from the prior year to hire additional immigration judge teams, upgrade to an electronic case management system, and reduce the Immigration Court backlog.
  • Funding for DOJ grants to state and local law enforcement agencies and crime victims would be provided, including $423 million for the Byrne JAG grant program (the primary state & local law enforcement grant) and $303 million for COPS hiring grant programs.

The Science title of this bill funds several agencies, including:

  • National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA): $21.5 billion would be provided for NASA in FY2019, an increase of $764 million from the prior year, to support human and robotic space exploration.
  • National Science Foundation (NSF): $8 billion would be provided for the NSF, an increase of $307.6 million, to provide for basic research across scientific disciplines and to support the development of effective STEM programs.

FINANCIAL SERVICES & GENERAL GOV’T

This section of the bill would provide $23.4 billion in FY19 funding for the U.S. Treasury, the Judiciary, the Small Business Administration, several financial regulators, and other independent agencies.

Treasury Department: Funding for the Treasury Dept.’s various offices and entities would be broken down as follows:

  • $11.3 billion for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), of which $75 million would be focused on implementing tax reform. The IRS would be prohibited from rehiring former employees unless their past conduct & tax compliance is considered, targeting individuals for exercising their First Amendment rights, prohibit the targeting of groups based on ideology, or producing inappropriate videos and conferences.
  • $214.6 million, an increase of $12.8 million from the prior year, for departmental offices to manage a growing caseload associated with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.
  • $159 million for the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, which combats terrorism financing and administers economic and trade sanctions -- an increase of $17.2 million.

Judiciary: A total of $7.25 billion in discretionary FY19 funds would be provided, an increase of $142 million from the prior year, to allow for timely and efficient processing of federal cases, court security, and defender services.

Small Business Administration (SBA): The SBA would receive $715 million to provide assistance to small businesses, expand the economy, and promote job growth for unemployed & underemployed Americans.

General Services Administration (GSA): This section would allow the GSA to spend $9.29 billion out of the Federal Buildings Fund to provide for rent payments for offices leased by the federal government, operations & maintenance at properties owned by government agencies.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): This section would provide $1.67 billion in funding for the SEC, an increase of $22.9 million from the prior year. It’d provide targeted funding for economic analysis within the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis.

District of Columbia: This section would provide $726 million in federal payments to DC, which would fund public safety and security costs, support the DC court system and its offender supervision program.

INTERIOR & ENVIRONMENT

This section would provide a total of $35.6 billion in FY19 funding for the Dept. of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Bureau of Indian Affairs and other agencies.

Dept. of the Interior (DOI): A total of $13.109 billion would be provided for the DOI, including full funding for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program that compensates local governments with untaxable federal property in their jurisdiction for the lost revenue opportunity. Among the agencies funded from this total include:

  • National Park Service (NPS): $3.22 billion in FY19 funding would be provided to NPS, up $20 million from the prior year to address a backlog of construction, maintenance, and operate new park units.
  • U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS): $1.58 billion would be provided for the FWS, a decrease of $17 million from the prior year. Within the total, increased funding would be available for the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, while operation of fish hatcheries would be maintained. The prohibition on listing the greater sage grouse as an endangered species would continue.
  • U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): A total of $1.16 billion in FY19 funding would be provided to USGS, an increase of $17 million from the prior year. Within the total, increased funding would go toward energy and mineral resources, mapping, natural hazards, and water resources.
  • Bureau of Indian Affairs & Bureau of Indian Education (BIA/BIE): This section would provide $3.08 billion in FY19 funding for BIA & BIE, an increase of $17 million from the prior year.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): This section would provide $8.058 billion in FY19 funding for the EPA, equal to its funding for the prior year, including:

  • $2.86 billion for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds program, an increase from the prior year.
  • $63 million would go to the Water Infrastructure Finance Act program, allowing billions in loans to finance water infrastructure.
  • An increase of $17 million for categorical grant programs which help states implement various environmental regulations.

U.S. Forest Service (USFS): This section would provide $6.087 billion in FY19 funding for the USFS, including increased funding to fight wildfire. A $5 million increase would be provided for hazardous fuels reduction.to prevent catastrophic wildfires in the wildland-urban interface.

Indian Health Service (IHS): This section would provide $5.804 billion in FY19 funding for the IHS, an increase of $234 million from the prior year. Within the total, additional funding would be focused on combating opioid abuse, suicide prevention, domestic violence prevention, and alcohol and substance abuse problems.

STATE & FOREIGN OPERATIONS

This section of the bill would provide $54.2 billion in fiscal year 2019 funding for the State Department, an amount equal to the prior year, to carry out diplomacy, promote democracy, provide assistance to allies, and global health programs to help the world’s most vulnerable populations. A breakdown of its various provisions can be found below.

International Security Assistance: This section of the bill would provide $9.15 billion in FY2019 funding for counterterrorism and nonproliferation programs, foreign military training and education programs, peacekeeping operations, plus military equipment for U.S. partners. It’d include:

  • $3.3 billion for Israel, fully meeting U.S. commitments under the 2016 memorandum of understanding.
  • $1.5 billion for Jordan.
  • $445.7 million for Ukraine.
  • $191.4 million for Tunisia.
  • $275 million for the Countering Russian Influence Fund.
  • $160 million to implement the Indo-Pacific Strategy and counter the influence of the People’s Republic of China.

Multilateral assistance would total $1.86 billion to meet U.S. commitments to international financial institutions and assessed contributions for U.N.  organizations and peacekeeping activities. It’d also promote U.N. peacekeeping reforms by restricting funds for units involved in sexual exploitation and abuse.

Global Health: This section would provide a total of $8.8 billion in FY2019 funding for global health programs, of which $3.1 billion is for USAID health programs and $5.7 billion for the State Department.

Other Provisions

  • Current prohibitions on the use of foreign aid funding for abortions would be continued, and all family planning programs funded would have to be voluntary. No funds would go to organizations determined by the administration to support coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.
  • Current restrictions on assistance for the West Bank and Gaza, along with the Palestinian Authority, would continue.

TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT

This section of the bill would provide a total of $71.1 billion in discretionary funding for the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development — an increase of $1 billion from the year prior.

Transportation

  • $49.3 billion in budgetary resources from the Highway Trust Fund for the Federal-aid Highways Program.
  • $17.5 billion in budgetary resources for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fully fund air traffic controllers, engineers, maintenance technicians, safety inspectors, and operational support personnel.
  • $13.5 billion for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), with grants totaling $9.9 billion from the Highway Trust Fund’s Mass Transit Account.

Housing & Urban Development (HUD)

  • $22.6 billion in tenant-based rental assistance;
  • $11.7 billion for project-based rental assistance;
  • $7.4 billion for public housing programs;
  • $3.3 billion for Community Development Block Grants.

DISASTER RELIEF

Agriculture: A total of $3 billion in funding would be made available for crop and livestock losses due to hurricanes, typhoons, volcanic activities, or wildfires in 2018. Other agricultural disaster relief would be provided as follows:

  • $480 million to the Emergency Forest Restoration Program to help owners of private forests damaged by disasters.
  • $150 million to the Rural Community Facilities Program to provide healthcare, education, public safety, and public services to rural communities.
  • $125 million for watershed and flood prevention operations, which would include providing financial and technical assistance to state and local entities with watersheds up to 250,000 acres.
  • $25.2 million to the Nutrition Assistance Program for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands following typhoons in September and October.

Commerce, Justice, Science: Economic Development Administration and Economic Development Assistance programs would receive $600 million to aid flood mitigation, disaster relief, long-term recovery, and restoration of infrastructure in disaster-affected areas. Other disaster relief funding provided under this section would be distributed as follows:

  • $150 million in fisheries disaster assistance to mitigate the effect of commercial fishery failures and fishery resource disasters, including those caused by recent hurricanes and typhoons.
  • $50 million in competitive grants to help enhance coastal resilience, through the restoration of coastal marshes and wetlands, dune and beach systems, oyster and coral reefs, and barrier islands.
  • $32 million to NOAA mapping, charting, and geographic services in areas affected by recent hurricanes, typhoons, and wildfires.
  • $28.4 million to repair federal prison buildings and facilities damaged by recent hurricanes and typhoons.

Defense & Military Construction: To address the impact of Hurricanes Florence and Michael on military bases in affected states the Air Force would receive $400 million and the Marine Corps $200 million for operations and maintenance activities.

Planning and design and construction activities related to the impact of Hurricane Michael on Tyndall Air Force Base would total $700 million, including planning and design for relocation of the F-22 mission, beddown of F-35s, and facility construction as necessary.

Construction project planning and design related to the impact of Hurricanes Florence and Michael on Marine Corps bases in North Carolina (New River, Cherry Point, and Lejuene) would total $115 million, including consolidation activities.

The Army National Guard would receive $42.4 million to rebuild and Army Readiness Center and Operations facility damaged by Hurricanes Florence and Michael.

Energy & Water: The Army Corps of Engineers would receive $740 million to speed up construction of flood and storm damage reduction projects to reduce flooding from future floods and hurricanes, and $470 million to repair damage to Corps projects. An additional $35 million would go to studies of potential projects to reduce risk from future floods and hurricanes.

The Bureau of Reclamation would receive $15.5 million to carry out fire remediation activities and for firefighting costs.

Homeland Security: The Coast Guard would receive $526 million for the construction, recapitalization, or rebuilding of facilities, piers, and other infrastructure damaged or destroyed by the storms. Funding would also go to improving their resiliency against future storm damage. undign would also compensate the Coast Guard for immediate response costs related to the storms and to restore its operations to a pre-hurricane status by rebuilding, repairing, or replacing infrastructure, navigational aids, mission assets, or other property that was destroyed or damaged. This funding would cover costs for site assessments, surveys, dredging, design work, and project oversight.

Interior & Environment: The U.S. Forest Service would receive $720 million to repay non-fire accounts that were used to fund firefighting activities during fiscal year 2018 (a practice known as ‘fire borrowing). It’d receive an additional $134 million for to repair national forest visitor and administrative facilities, damaged roads & trails, and reducing hazardous fuels in forests to prevent an increased risk of significant wildfires.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would receive $414 million to address impacts of 2018 natural disasters. Funding would be used to provide for wastewater and drinking water infrastructure resiliency projects, waste disposal needs, and issues with underground storage tanks.

The Dept. of the Interior would receive $311.9 million for the repair and reconstruction of critical infrastructure and conservation needs following 2018 natural disasters. Within that:

  • The U.S. Geological Survey would receive $99 million for equipment & facility repair and replacement, debris and hazardous waste removal, and data collection in areas affected by Hurricanes Florence and Michael, 2018 wildfires and volcanic eruptions, and damage from the Alaska earthquake.
  • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would receive $82 million for the repair and restoration of roads, facilities, bridges, and assets associated with Hurricanes Florence, Lane, and Michael, flooding associated with Hawaii mudslides, and 2018 earthquakes. Of the total, $50 million would be for coastal resiliency grants.
  • The National Park Service would receive $78 million for the repair and replacement of assets in the National Park system that were damaged by Hurricanes Florence and Michael, Typhoons Yutu and Mangkut, and 2018 wildfires. It’d receive a further $50 million in historic preservation grants to repair historic sites and properties damaged by Hurricanes Florence and Michael and Typhoon Yutu.

Labor, HHS, Education: The Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) would receive $246 million to restore and increase access to care under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Community Health Centers, in addition to funding assessments by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Dept. of Education would receive $165 million to restart operations at elementary, secondary, and colleges and universities in areas damaged by natural disasters; support school districts outside of those areas receiving displaced students; and provide services to affected students.

The Dept. of Labor would receive $50 million for disaster response economic recovery through the Dislocated Worker National Reserve.

Legislative Branch: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) would receive $10 million for oversight of disaster relief spending.

Transportation, Housing & Urban Development: The Federal Highway Administration would receive $1.6 billion to reimburse states and territories for damage from natural disasters to roads and bridges in the National Highway System. An additional $1.06 billion would be provided in community development block grants for disaster recovery to help communities rebuild housing, businesses, and public infrastructure in the most impacted and distressed areas affected by major natural disasters.

MISCELLANEOUS EXTENSIONS

  • The Violence Against Women Act would be extended through the end of FY2019.
  • The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program would be extended through June 30, 2019.
  • Provisions of the Pandemic All hazards Preparedness Act would be extended through the end of the fiscal year.
  • Immigration programs such as E-Verify, EB-5, Special immigrant Religious Workers, and the Conrad 30 program for international medical school graduates would be extended through the end of the fiscal year.
  • Pesticide Registration Improvement Act programs would be authorized through the end of the fiscal year.

Argument in Favor:

This bill represents the best hope yet to end the ongoing partial government. It’d immediately reopen affected agencies, and pair the Trump administration request for border security with three years of relief for recipients of DACA & TPS and critical disaster relief.

Argument Against:

Congress should only debate funding to end the partial government shutdown right now. The debates over border security, DACA & TPS, and disaster relief should be considered separately once the government is reopened even if there is a deal that could be made.

Impact: Asylum seekers; recipients of DACA & TPS; state & local governments; relevant agencies and their workers; and Congress.

Cost: A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

In-Depth: Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) introduced this bill, which represents the Trump administration’s plan to end the partial government shtudown by funding affected agencies for the rest of the fiscal year, fund the administration’s request for $5.7 billion to build barriers on the southern border, provide three years of protected status for recipients of DACA & TPS, and provide disaster relief:

“The President has proposed a serious compromise to end this shutdown. It would not only fund the government and secure the border, but also provide immigration reforms the Democrats have long supported. For the good of the country, I encourage my Democratic colleagues to either join us in passing this legislation or come to the negotiating with constructive solutions of their own. Saying no to everything will not move our country forward.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) added:

“This bill takes a bipartisan approach to re-opening the closed portions of the federal government. It pairs the border security investment that our nation needs with additional immigration measures that both Democrat and Republican members of Congress believe are necessary. Unlike the bills that have come from the House over the past few weeks, this proposal could actually resolve this impasse. It has the full support of the President and could be signed into law quickly to reopen the government.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) expressed opposition to this bill and released the following statement in response to President Trump’s proposal:

“It’s clear the President realizes that by closing the government and hurting so many American workers and their families, he has put himself and the country in an untenable position. Unfortunately, he keeps putting forward one-sided and ineffective remedies. There’s only one way out: open up the government, Mr. President, and then Democrats and Republicans can have a civil discussion and come up with bipartisan solutions. It was the President who singled-handedly [sic] took away DACA and TPS protections in the first place -- offering some protections back in exchange for the wall is not a compromise but more hostage taking.”


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: iStock.com / CREATISTA)