2018: Fitzpatrick Voted For The $1.3 Trillion FY 2018 Omnibus
Spending Deal Which Raised Spending By $138 Billion Over FY 2017
Levels; Legislation Reauthorized The FCC. 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]
2017: Fitzpatrick Voted Against The FY 2018 Congressional Progressive
Caucus's Budget Resolution, Which Among Other Things, Increased Taxes On
The Rich And Corporations And Called For Investing $100 Billion To
Increase Access To High-Speed Internet. In October 2017, Fitzpatrick
voted against an FY 2018 CPC budget resolution. According to
Congressional Quarterly, the resolution would "provide for $3.8
trillion in new budget authority in fiscal 2018, not including
off-budget accounts. It would raise overall spending by $3.5 trillion
over 10 years and would increase revenues by $8.2 trillion over the
same period through policies that would increase taxes for corporations
and high-income individuals. It would repeal the Budget Control Act
sequester and caps on discretionary spending, would modify the tax code
by adding five higher marginal tax rates, would create a public
insurance option to be sold within the current health insurance
exchanges and would call for implementation of comprehensive immigration
overhaul." In addition, according to the Congressional Progressive
Caucus, "Invest $100 billion to increase access to reliable, high-speed
internet." The amendment was a substitute amendment for the GOP's FY
2018 budget resolution in part designed to start the process for tax
reform. The House rejected the amendment by a vote of 108 to 314.
[House Vote 553,
10/4/17; Congressional
Quarterly, 10/4/17; Congressional
Progressive Caucus, Accessed
10/12/17;
Congressional Actions, H. Amdt.
453;
Congressional Actions, H. Con. Res.
71]
2019: Fitzpatrick Voted For Studying How Online Marketplaces
Facilitate Sex And Drug Trafficking. In January 2019, Fitzpatrick
voted for a bill that would, according to Congressional Quarterly,
"require the Government Accountability Office to study how online
marketplaces and virtual currencies are used to buy, sell, or facilitate
sex or drug trafficking. Specifically the bill would require that the
GAO report on the methods used to repatriate such funds back into the
conventional banking system." The vote was on a motion to suspend the
rules and pass the bill. The House agreed to the motion and passed the
bill by a vote of 412-3. The bill was never taken up in the Senate.
[House Vote 53, 1/28/19;
Congressional Quarterly,
1/28/19; Congressional Actions,
H.R.502]
2018: Fitzpatrick Voted For The $1.3 Trillion FY 2018 Omnibus
Spending Deal Which Raised Spending By $138 Billion Over FY 2017
Levels; Legislation Included A $600 Million Grant For Expanding
Broadband In Rural Areas. 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]
Legislation Included A $600 Million Grant For Expanding Broadband
In Rural Areas. According to Congressional Quarterly, "For the
Broadband Program, it authorizes up to $30 million in loans ($3
million more than FY 2017) --- but it also appropriates a separate
$600 million that is to be used for a new broadband loan and grant
pilot program. Under that pilot program, at least 90% of the
households to be served by a project receiving a loan or grant must
be in a rural area that lacks sufficient access to broadband that
has 10 Mbps download speed and 1 Mbps upload speed)."
[Congressional Quarterly,
3/22/18]
Funding Was A New Grant Program Funded Via The USDA's Rural
Utility Services. According to the Rural Broadband Association,
"The Rural Broadband Association today issued the following
statement regarding the inclusion of $600 million of federal
funding for rural broadband in the recently released omnibus
appropriations bill. 'NTCA commends today's action by Congress to
include $600 million in the omnibus for rural broadband deployment
through a new pilot program to be administered by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS),' said
NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield." [Rural Broadband Association,
3/21/18]