Trone Votes to Prevent a Devastating Government Shutdown and Secures Extension of Critical Funding For Maryland’s Top Priorities
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: trone.press@mail.house.gov
Trone Votes to Prevent a Devastating Government Shutdown and Secures Extension of Critical Funding For Maryland’s Top Priorities
WASHINGTON — Yesterday, U.S. Representative David Trone (MD-06) voted to fund the federal government through December 11th and announced that he secured critical funding for some of Maryland’s top priorities — including health care, nutrition, transportation, medical research, and more.
The short-term FY2021 funding bill, H.R.8319, extends government funding through December 11th, which would avoid a government shutdown at the end of September.
“The American people cannot afford yet another government shutdown, period,” said Congressman David Trone. “This bill will provide critical funding to ensure that we can continue working to better the lives of all people by making health care more accessible, keeping food on the table for children and families, helping businesses keep their doors open, and more. I look forward to seeing this funding in action.”
More detail on this funding is included below:
Combatting the Physical and Behavioral Health Care Crises
- Addiction:
- Extends authorization for the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics demonstration program otherwise set to expire.
- Extends funding for Community Health Centers.
- Includes drugs used for Medication Assisted Treatment in Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.
- Veterans Mental Health and Homelessness Resources:
- Two-year extension of programs to help homeless veterans, including the provision of mental health counseling.
- Keeping Health Care Affordable:
- Includes provisions that save seniors from an up to $50 per month Part B premium hike.
- Medical Research
- Extends funding for multi-year NIH research grants interrupted by COVID-19, ensuring that researchers can find life-saving cures to illnesses.
Addressing the Needs of Children and Families
- Allows USDA spending flexibility to meet the caseload demand for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
- Allows for spending flexibility to ensure that the Summer EBT (SEBT) program is operational by May 2021.
- Expand the Pandemic-EBT program.
- Extends the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s authority to continue offering school districts greater flexibility through the 2020-2021 school year.
- Extends funding for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Child Care Entitlement to States.
Helping Small Businesses Keep Their Doors Open
- Allows flexibility for increased SBA loans during COVID-19.
Investing in Transportation and Infrastructure
- One-year reauthorization for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).
- Trone introduced legislation to reauthorize ARC with Rep. McKinley in 2019.
- One-year extension for surface transportation programs.
- Allows the Department of Agriculture to continue to issue loans for clean and reliable water systems in rural areas.
The text of the legislation can be found here.
A summary of the legislation is available here.
Congressman David Trone was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2018 to serve the 6th District of Maryland, which includes all or part of Montgomery, Frederick, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett Counties. Trone serves on the Education and Labor, Foreign Affairs, and Joint Economic Committees, where he is fighting to make progress on issues that matter to Marylanders, including the opioid epidemic, criminal justice reform, and funding for medical research.
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