General Discussion

hlthe2b

(102,574 posts) Thu Feb 14, 2019, 06:37 PM Feb 2019

What's in Border Security bill: Good news for the Butterfly sanctuary & some constraints on admin

What’s in the 1,169-page border-security bill to avert a government shutdown

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/whats-in-the-1169-page-border-security-bill-to-avert-a-government-shutdown/2019/02/14/fb422a96-3068-11e9-8781-763619f12cb4_story.html?utm_term=.93354adecb02

What’s in the 1,169-page border-security bill to avert a government shutdown
Ignore the spin. Here’s what’s actually in the funding bill.

What exactly is in the 1,159-page compromise legislation allocating $324 billion in government spending - and what's not? (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Melina Mara/The Washington Post)
By Mike DeBonis
February 14 at 4:33 PM

The 1,169-page, $333 billion spending bill that President Trump plans to sign into law removes the threat of any further government shutdowns — at least until October.

But only a few pages of the legislation deals with the U.S.-Mexico border wall that Trump has demanded — or “primary pedestrian fencing,” as legislators wrote into the text. The rest of the bill focuses on other border security measures, as well as funding for scores of federal departments and agencies whose budgets have been held hostage for months due to the border standoff.

Here’s a sampling of what the bill contains:
Border security provisions

• $1.375 billion for new border barriers. Trump didn’t get any of the $5.7 billion he demanded for a concrete or steel wall. The $1.375 billion is enough for 55 miles for “pedestrian” fencing in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, but it is also subject to numerous restrictions. The barriers can only use existing designs, they are banned in five ecologically or historically sensitive areas, and the Department of Homeland Security must consult with local officials before embarking on construction.

See the link above for more details

7 replies

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Highlight:

What's in Border Security bill: Good news for the Butterfly sanctuary & some constraints on admin (Original Post) hlthe2b Feb 2019 OP

What's NOT in the bill: hlthe2b Feb 2019 #1

The Butterfly Center is SAFE? UniteFightBack Feb 2019 #2

Yes.. or at least it seems so... hlthe2b Feb 2019 #3

Thank you this made my year. I know other folks are going to be very happy about this to because UniteFightBack Feb 2019 #4

GREAT NEWS!!!!! bluestarone Feb 2019 #6

A kick for those who didn't see this (esp those concerned about the Butterfly Sanctuary) hlthe2b Feb 2019 #5

hey! don't be kickin' the butterflies! Hermit-The-Prog Feb 2019 #7

hlthe2b

(102,574 posts)

1. What's NOT in the bill:

Reply to hlthe2b (Original post)

Thu Feb 14, 2019, 06:39 PM

Feb 2019

What's not in the bill

While Democratic and Republican negotiators reached an accord on the key border security flash points, they did not reach agreement on other contentious items. They include:

• Back pay for federal contractors. Democrats and some Republicans pushed to include about $1 billion in back pay targeting low-wage federal contract workers, such as custodial and service industry workers, who lost a month’s wages due to the shutdown. But the White House strongly resisted paying contractors for work not done during a shutdown for the first time.

• Extension of the Violence Against Women Act. A larger dispute about rewriting the Violence Against Women Act for the first time in more than six years bled into the spending negotiations. Democrats pushed to let the existing law lapse, which would lend momentum to a planned House rewrite. But Republicans wanted to keep existing law in place through the end of the fiscal year. Democrats say that there will be no practical impact for the time being, and they will work in the coming months to pass an updated bill.

• Disaster aid. Lawmakers of both parties had pushed to include billions of dollars in federal aid for victims of recent hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters. But in the rush to complete the border accord, negotiators opted to leave the aid package off the bill. Top appropriators, Democrat and Republican, have said they expect to negotiate a separate disaster aid bill soon.