U.S. Reps. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) and Tom Rooney (R-FL) worked hard to secure critical funding for Florida priorities like Everglades restoration, marine sanctuaries and pre-disaster mitigation in the bipartisan government spending bill that the House approved earlier this week.
“It is a great day for Florida, for our environment, our citrus growers and for America’s freedom,” Rooney, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said.
The Florida lawmakers helped secure $10 million in funding for Everglades restoration, additional support for National Marine Sanctuaries, $100 million in Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Pre-Disaster Mitigation funds, and support for the Florida Keys Water Quality Improvement Program.
The Senate passed the omnibus government spending bill on Thursday that will keep the federal government running until Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. The spending bill now heads to the president to be signed into law.
“Included in this package are some big wins for our South Florida community,” Curbelo said. “The bill also increases pay for our military service members tasked with keeping our nation safe and adds over a billion dollars in funding for the Defense Health Program that funds cancer research, traumatic brain injury and physiological health care assistance, and sexual assault prevention programs.”
The spending bill will increase national defense funding by $25 billion, allocate $1.5 billion for border security technologies and infrastructure improvements, and support for programs that support public health and help fight the opioid addiction epidemic.
Rooney said, “For over a year, we’ve worked extensively to incorporate conservative funding priorities in these bills and discontinue the Obama-era budget that the government has been operating under since December 2015.” A vote against the bill, he said, would be a vote against Everglades restoration funding, Florida’s orange juice industry and raises for service members.
Curbelo also lauded provisions of the spending bill that would work to address the fiscal and health care crisis facing Puerto Rico through $296 million in Medicaid funding to prevent a catastrophic shortfall.
“I have been and will remain an advocate for programs that assist our fellow Americans citizens in Puerto Rico with members on both sides of the aisle,” Curbelo said.
The spending bill is considered by lawmakers to be a major victory for the Florida Everglades, citrus research and national security.
The measure allocates more than $61 million to programs that combat the citrus greening disease that has decimated Florida’s citrus industry. It also includes $14.88 million in flood relief for central and southern Florida, $2.7 million for the Okeechobee Waterway, $47.4 million for the National Estuary Program, and $400 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which includes $188 million for federal land acquisition.