2018: Schweikert Voted Against 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, Schweikert voted against 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: Schweikert 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, Schweikert 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]
2016: Schweikert Voted To Prevent The FCC From Regulating High Speed Internet Rates. In April 2016, Schweikert voted for a bill that would have barred the Federal Communications Commission from regulating rates for the Internet. According to The Hill, "The House on Friday passed a bill to ban the Federal Communications Commission from setting or reviewing the rates that companies charge for internet service." The vote was on the legislation. The House passed the bill by a vote of 241 to 173. The Senate took no substantive action on the bill. [House Vote 152, 4/15/16; The Hill, 4/15/16; Congressional Actions, H.R. 2666]
2019: Schweikert Voted For Studying How Online Marketplaces Facilitate Sex And Drug Trafficking. In January 2019, Schweikert 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: Schweikert Voted Against 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, Schweikert voted against 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]