15 important measures buried in the 2,000-page omnibus bill

[sl8]

Source: PBS NewsHour

By Lisa Desjardins
Politics Mar 22, 2018 12:12 PM EDT

...

At 2232 pages long, the omnibus appropriations bill released late Wednesday is nearly too long for members of Congress to read from cover to cover before the scheduled vote Friday.

The bill includes funding for big-ticket items like pay raises for troops and border security. But it also includes funding on programs that have received less attention during the spending debate this week. Here’s a look at some specific proposals, along with the page number where the items appear in the bill.

Autistic children: A measure called “Kevin and Avonte’s Law” funds grants aimed at education and prevention to stop autistic children from wandering off unsupervised. Pg. 1,937.

Abuse of young athletes: This measure in the bill provides grants aimed at preventing sexual and other abuse of athletes. It encourages education on the issue as well as oversight of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Pg. 1,968.

...

Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/15-important-measures-buried-in-the-2000-page-omnibus-bill

[Fred Sanders]

1. 2000+ pages and a vote in one day? No problemp. Love American democracy.

Debate, reflection and public input is for loser countries whose politicians are not owned by special interests and bribed to vote.

This may shock some, but politicians do not read 2000 pages of legalese and understand even a portion of it....they are told what is in it or not by the same special interests that bought page 1963.

[Nitram]

3. That's what staffers are for. They read and summarize.

[OregonBlue]

2. Some decent things in the bill:

Workers earning tips: The omnibus blocks a proposed Trump administration rule that would have allowed employers to keep or pool some of the tips earned by servers and other workers. Pg. 2,025.

Fighting wildfires: In a particularly big win for Western states, the omnibus sets aside a fixed pot of money, between $2 billion and $3 billion each year, to address wildfire prevention and disasters. Recent fire efforts had no clear funding source and occasionally were paid for by borrowing from other programs. Pg. 1,780.

The bill clarifies that federal dollars can be used to research gun violence, reversing the existing de facto ban on federally funded gun research. Pg. 1,971.

[briv1016]

4. Okay, what the hell is the Giant Building Photos provision?

Giant building photos: The bill blocks the Capitol architect from using federal funds to create and hang a giant photo or drawing of any Capitol Hill building outside of that building when it’s being renovated. (This was done when the Supreme Court building was renovated.) Pg. 1,077.

[JohnnyRingo]

6. I had to think about that too.

I'm guessing that if a federal building is being renovated, the architect could contract for one of those fanciful drawings that show the planned result to pad his bill. Indeed, all such projects have similar drawings done by the company, but if they blow it up to billboard size at taxpayers expense, that might need reigned in.

It seems odd though that we need a law for that. I think it could just be added as language in the contract. "No stupid giant drawings."

[hedda_foil]

5. All but two more r three are actually GOOD!

I heard this morning that the tea-bagger conclave wouldn't vote for it so the Rs had to actually negotiate with Poopyhead Democrats. It shows.