The Senate Committee on Appropriations today approved the FY2020 spending bills for the Appropriations Subcommittees on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (T-HUD); Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; and Financial Services and General Government.
The bills were each reported favorably out of the committee by a vote of 31-0 and contain important provisions impacting the state of Alabama.
“These spending measures advanced by the committee today are a positive step in this year’s appropriations process,” said Sen. Richard Shelby, who chairs the committee. “From supporting local farmers to building upon our strong infrastructure, transportation, and financial systems, these bills prioritize the needs of the people of Alabama and the nation. I am proud of the progress made on these bills, and I am hopeful that we can move other bills forward in the right direction.”
The T-HUD bill provides funding to improve our nation’s transportation and housing infrastructure and will continue to advance our air traffic control systems and aircraft certification processes.
The Agriculture funding measure supports the U.S. Department of Agriculture, rural development, conservation programs, and food and drug safety. It also creates incentives for military veterans to enter careers in agriculture and supports significant resources for the Federal Drug Administration to combat the opioid epidemic.
The Financial Services and General Government bill includes targeted funding increases for the Treasury Department to combat money laundering and terrorism financing; for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to oversee our nation’s securities, swaps, and futures markets; for the Federal courts to support the administration of justice; and for the General Services Administration’s Federal Buildings Fund.
