2018: Fitzpatrick Voted For The $1.3 Trillion FY 2018 Omnibus
Spending Deal Which Raised Spending By $138 Billion Over FY 2017
Levels, Including Raising Pell Grants To $6,095 For FY 2018. In March
2018, Fitzpatrick voted for the FY 2018 Omnibus spending bill. According
to Congressional Quarterly, "Combined, the spending measures would
provide about $1.3 trillion in discretionary spending, with $1.2
trillion subject to discretionary spending caps, and $78.1 billion
designated as Overseas Contingency Operations funds. The measure's
spending levels are consistent with the increased defense and
non-defense budget caps set by the two-year budget deal agreed to last
month. That agreement increased the FY 2018 defense cap by $80 billion
and the non-defense cap by $63 billion. Given that the previous caps
were set to reduce overall discretionary spending by $5 billion, the
net increase provided by the omnibus is $138 billion over the FY 2017
level." The vote was on the motion to concur in the Senate Amendment
with an Amendment. The House agreed to the motion, thereby passing the
bill, by a vote of 256 to 167. The Senate later agreed to the
legislation, sending it to the president, who signed it into law.
[House Vote 127,
3/22/18; Congressional
Quarterly, 3/22/18; Congressional
Actions, H.R.
1625]
2019: Fitzpatrick Voted For The FY 2020 Minibus Appropriations Bill,
Which Increased The Maximum Pell Grant Award By $150. In December
2019, Fitzpatrick voted for the FY 2020 minibus spending bill, which
represented 8 of the 12 appropriations bills. According to Congressional
Quarterly, the bill "provides $24.5 billion for federal student aid
programs ($75 million more than FY 2019 and $1.5 billion more than
requested), which would allow for an increase of $150 in the maximum
Pell Grant, to $6,345." The vote was a motion to concur in the Senate
amendment. The House agreed to the motion by a vote of 297-120. The
Senate later passed the bill and the President signed the bill into law.
[House Vote 689,
12/17/19; Congressional
Quarterly, 12/17/19;
Congressional Actions,
H.R.1865]
2018: Fitzpatrick Voted For An FY 2019 Conference Report Minibus
Spending Bill And Continuing Resolution That Appropriated $22.4 Billion
For Pell Grants. In September 2018, Fitzpatrick voted for an FY 2019
Labor, HHS, Education, and Defense minibus spending bill conference
report. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Adoption of the
conference report on the bill that would provide $855.1 billion in
discretionary funding for fiscal 2019 to various departments and
agencies, including $674.4 billion for the Defense Department and
$178.1 billion for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education
departments. The Defense Department total would include $606.5 billion
in base Defense Department funding subject to spending caps, and would
include $67.9 billion in overseas contingency operations funding. The
bill would provide $90.3 billion in discretionary spending for the
Health and Human Services Department, $71.4 billion for the Education
Department and $12.1 billion for the Labor Department. The measure
would also provide funding for federal government operations until Dec.
7, 2018, at an annualized rate of approximately $1.3 trillion." The
vote was on passage. The House passed the bill by a vote of 361 to 61.
The president later signed the bill into law. [House Vote 405,
9/26/18; Congressional
Quarterly, 9/26/18;
Congressional Actions, H.R.
6157]