WASHINGTON — A Michigan boot-maker, potato farmers and more than 1,200 contractors that supply parts for a next-generation fighter plane are among the many winners in the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill passed by Congress.
Supporters of manufacturers added a provision that would create public-private partnerships to accelerate the transition of new technologies from basic research to commercial applications. The travel and tourism industry won a six-year renewal of the Corporation for Travel Promotion, or Brand USA, to promote tourism in the United States. Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans, which benefit from a unique tax break that's threatened by the Affordable Care Act, won a provision that makes sure they keep it.
The items were widely supported but had failed to advance in a Congress beset by feuding and stalemate. So they caught a ride on the unstoppable omnibus measure, the last major train leaving the Capitol Hill station this year.
So too did a renewal of federal payments to support rural school districts surrounded by federal lands, which are deprived of property tax revenue. Medical marijuana dispensaries won new guarantees against harassment by federal authorities. And potato farmers finally won the inclusion of white potatoes in the market basket of foods that can be purchased under a federal food aid program for low-income pregnant women and mothers of young children.
Another provision in the bill is aimed at protecting Bates Footwear, a Michigan-based manufacturer that supplies boots to the military, from new regulations that expand the definition of how big a small business can be in order to qualify for government set-asides. The standard went from 500 workers to 1,000 workers two years ago, making more manufacturers eligible. The Michigan delegation is the driving force behind a provision ordering the Defense Logistics Agency to examine the new rules and whether they will harm the footwear industry.
The bill started out at a whopping 1,603 pages but grew by 161 more with the inclusion of legislation designed to shore up critically underfunded multiemployer pension plans. The bipartisan measure would, for the first time, allow such pension plans to reduce the pensions of current retirees, drawing fire from many unions and the powerful AARP. Such opposition blocked the bill from advancing as a stand-alone measure but couldn't keep it out of the omnibus bill.
The core of the bill is the $1.1 trillion to fund the one-third of the federal budget that Congress renews each year, typically making small adjustments. Such so-called discretionary appropriations have been held flat at current levels after being given relief from automatic spending cuts called sequestration last year.
The sweeping measure extends its reach into every corner of government, from $5.4 billion to battle Ebola and another $5 billion to fight Islamic State militants, to funding for medical research and record funding for subsidies to airlines serving rural airports.
