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Congress on Sunday released the text for a spending package consisting of six of the 12 appropriations bills that needs to pass by Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown. The funding levels in the bill are consistent with the debt limit deal reached last year and avoid deep funding cuts proposed by House Republicans.
Several NTEU-represented agencies will see minimal funding changes under this agreement, including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Some others, like the Environmental Protection Agency, will see a funding cut that is offset by previously authorized spending. The bill would freeze, but not cut, funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission while providing a small increase for the Food and Drug Administration. NTEU has already started working to see that the FY 2025 budgets for FDA and CFTC makes up for the insufficient funding for these agencies in FY 2024.
NTEU is pleased that the bill allows the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to continue retaining the fees it collects.
Additionally, NTEU supports continuing the extra pay authority federal wildland firefighters first received in 2022, giving Congress more time to permanently address the issue.
Lawmakers have until Friday evening to approve the funding package and then will have to turn their attention to funding the rest of the government by March 22.
NTEU will continue to press Congress to adequately fund our agencies and avoid a government shutdown.